Meet Sanofi – 2020 Facility of the Year Award Winner for Facility of the Future
Sanofi is the 2020 Facility of the Year Award Winner for Facility of the Future for their Sanofi Digitally Enabled Integrated Continuous Biomanufacturing Facility in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Projects selected for the Facility of the Future Award have applied or implemented innovative design concepts, new technologies, and unique solutions that exemplify the next generation of agile, flexible, efficient, and effective Life Sciences facilities.
Project: Digitally-Enabled, Integrated Continuous Biomanufacturing Facility
Sanofi pushed the concepts of digitization to fully integrate process control, data collection, and analytics and built a fully integrated bioprocessing facility that takes the application of disposable process technology and flexible facility design to a new level.
FOYA Judges
Sanofi is dedicated to supporting people through their health challenges. They are a global biopharmaceutical company focused on human health, preventing illness with vaccines, and providing innovative treatments to fight pain and ease suffering. They research and develop treatments for the few who suffer from rare diseases and the millions with long-term chronic conditions. With more than 100,000 people in 100 countries, Sanofi is transforming scientific innovation into healthcare solutions around the globe.
A pioneer in continuous biologics processing, Sanofi has several rare disease enzyme replacement therapies that are produced using large scale perfusion reactors and novel cell separation technologies. This project leveraged engineering, science, and technology to transform the way Sanofi manufactures biologics products. The facility was designed to be the most advanced digitally integrated manufacturing facility in the Sanofi network and one of the world’s first using continuous biomanufacturing for commercial biologics production.
A wide range of cutting-edge manufacturing technologies were used to develop an efficient, flexible, and sustainable manufacturing platform. One of the most significant aspects of Sanofi’s design is the commercial implementation of Integrated Continuous Biomanufacturing (ICB), which made it possible for them to adopt a modernized perfusion-based cell culture process where smaller single-use technologies replace traditional large-scale stainless-steel reactors and capture equipment.
Sanofi also developed new and innovative ways to use single-use technologies, many of which had never been commercially implemented. They partnered with a single-use mixer supplier to develop a novel single-use slurry mixing application. They used single-use mixing and powder handling technology, along with a custom library of single-use fluid management assemblies, to replace traditional stainless-steel systems. The new set up provides the building blocks to use pre-sterilized single-use tubing and manifolds equipped with single-use aseptic connection devices to provide a wide range of operational flexibility.
The facility was designed for flexible operations, rapid changeovers, and multiproduct operations. The layout and material workflows were designed to prevent waste in material movement and waiting times and the facility infrastructure was designed to maintain greater than 99% facility uptime.
Additionally, the move to a Digitally-Enabled, Integrated Continuous Biomanufacturing Facility reaped rewards for the environment. Sanofi’s utility systems were designed using the latest technologies to perform at the highest energy efficiency. They were able to reduce their chemical usage by 94%, reduced energy consumption and CO2 emissions by 80%, water usage by 91%, and saved 321 tons of waste from the landfill annually.
“Over the past four years, Sanofi has expanded our biologics manufacturing capabilities by introducing new technology and the commercialization of integrated continuous biomanufacturing,” said Franqui Jimenez, Head of Second-Generation Process Development, Global Manufacturing Science and Technology at Sanofi. “We have seized an opportunity to go beyond traditional lifecycle improvements and have developed our second-generation processes; transforming the way we manufacture currently approved commercial products and enabling a flexibility for future product introductions.”
ISPE congratulates Sanofi on the success of their Digitally-Enabled, Integrated Continuous Biomanufacturing Facility, their advancements in biologics manufacturing, and their FOYA award winning entry for the Facility of the Future. Learn more about the 2020 FOYA Facility of the Future winner.
Has your company recently designed, built or renovated a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical or biotechnology facility that is best in its class?
ISPE is now accepting entries into the 2021 ISPE Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) Program, and your facility may be eligible to apply. Learn more about the Facility of the Year Awards submission process and your company could be the next Facility of the Year Awards Category winner. Nominate your facility in 2021
Want to learn more about the 2020 FOYA winning projects? Get inspiration for future innovations at these complimentary digital events.
Get a free Facility of the Year Awards Day Pass to take an in-depth look at each of the 2020 FOYA winning projects during the 2020 ISPE Annual Meeting & Expo. Claim your complimentary pass today to benefit from 3 hours of compelling and insightful sessions.
Join ISPE and prominent industry leaders on Tuesday, 3 November, as we come together to recognize the outstanding achievements of all the FOYA winners during the 2020 Facility of the Year Awards Virtual Banquet.
