OREANDA-NEWS. Asahi Kasei Medical will construct a new plant for the spinning of hollow-fiber membranes for Planova™ BioEX filters at the site of its Planova Oita Plant in Oita, Japan. This addition will increase capacity for Planova™ BioEX filters to 10,000 m2 per year.

Planova™ virus removal filters are used to enhance safety in the production process for biotherapeutic products such as biopharmaceuticals and plasma derivatives. The outstanding performance of Planova™ filters—combining high rates of virus clearance with high rates of protein recovery—has been widely recognized throughout the world.

Launched in 2009, Planova™ BioEX filters incorporate durable hydrophilic PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) hollow-fiber membranes that can cope with the harsh processing conditions typical of state-of-the-art biopharmaceutical manufacturing. With its superior viral clearance performance in high protein concentration solutions, Planova™ BioEX filters are increasingly adopted by major pharmaceutical manufacturers, especially in Europe and the US.

The new spinning plant will enable Asahi Kasei Medical to meet growing demand for Planova™ BioEX filters as higher protein concentrations become more common in the manufacturing process of biotherapeutic products. Asahi Kasei Medical will continue to contribute to greater safety of biotherapeutic products by developing high-quality and high-performance products in accordance with market needs, while proactively investing in manufacturing facilities.