Quantitative assessment of environmental impact of biologics manufacturing using process mass intensity analysis

Process mass intensity (PMI) is a benchmarking metric to evaluate the efficiency of a manufacturing process, which is indicative of the environmental impact of the process. Although this metric is commonly applied for small molecule manufacturing processes, it is less commonly applied to biologics. In this study, an Excel based tool developed by the ACS GCI Pharmaceutical Roundtable was used to calculate PMI of different manufacturing processes for a monoclonal antibody (mAb). For the upstream process, three different versions were compared: fed‐batch, fed‐batch with N‐1 perfusion, and perfusion in the N‐stage bioreactor. For each upstream process version, an appropriate downstream operational mode was evaluated from the following: a column chromatography process utilizing Protein A and anion exchange (AEX) resin, a Protein A column and an AEX membrane, and a three‐column periodic counter‐current (3C PCC) chromatography process for Protein A and an AEX membrane. The impact of these different process variations on PMI was evaluated. Of all the process inputs, water contributes about 92–94% of the overall PMI. Additionally, the upstream processes and the chromatography steps account for 32–47 and 34–54% of the overall PMI, respectively. Sensitivity analysis was performed to identify opportunities for further reducing PMI. These data indicate that a semicontinuous manufacturing process (perfusion, 3C PCC, and AEX membrane) is the most efficient process, resulting in a 23% reduction of PMI when compared with the fed batch and two‐column chromatography process. Together, PMI can be used to guide the development of efficient and environmentally sustainable mAb manufacturing processes. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 34:1566–1573, 2018