Harvest & Collection

PRODUCTS

  • Every capsule and tablet begins with an idea. It takes a professional and innovative manufacturing partner to turn that idea into a reality. Enter Natoli, a name synonymous with excellence in pharmaceutical equipment and services. From the early stages of formulation to the grand scale of full-blown production, Natoli offers a seamless journey through every step of the process. Whether you’re unsure of how to start or how to finish, Natoli can guide the way.

  • Isolators with product protection as a housing for aseptic processes, e.g., filling, loading and unloading of freeze dryers.

  • When AST came to the table on the design for our new fill-finish isolator, one of the first areas AST engineers wanted to address was the usability and accessibility of the isolator and corresponding operations. With our customers’ point of view in mind, we wanted to address specific points of friction routinely encountered by operators and closely examine whether those friction points were necessary.

    Does an isolator need to be ergonomically unfriendly to clean?

    Should simple mechanisms like isolator doors be challenging to engage? (As much as one can appreciate exercise, no one wants to do “arm day” in cleanroom coveralls).

    Does routine maintenance have to be time-consuming and laborious?

    Many of these factors are accepted as par for the course in aseptic fill-finish manufacturing. Our question was, why?

  • Nitrowave RF coaxial cables offer improved stability with flexure over time. The coaxial structure is designed to meet the demands of aerospace, defense, datacom, and many other growing markets.

  • At Körber, we have developed the Blister Expert (BE) so that you, as a pharmaceutical manufacturer, can deliver top quality in ever shorter production times. Thanks to its modular design, it covers a wide range of formats and can be quickly converted and cleaned. In short, a machine that adapts and meets all requirements.

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Harvest and Collection

Harvest and collection is the process used to retrieve biological agents and vaccines present in cell cultures or to harvest and collect stem cells from blood or bone marrow. Many bioresearch companies have sophisticated systems for harvesting and collecting cells. These systems make counting cells easier and they also protect against contamination.

Cells are harvested once the cells reach a density level in the cell culture medium that precludes further growth. The best time to harvest cells is when they are in a confluent state (at least 50% of the culture dish is covered and before 100% of the dish is covered).

Cells can be harvested using on of three methods:  Mechanical, using Proteolytic enzymes, or using EDTA.  Mechanical harvesting uses a rubber spatula to remove the cells from the growth surface or culture. This method is quick but can cause many cells to die because it is highly disruptive. This method is favored when harvesting lots of different samples of cells to prepare extracts.

In this case, viability of the cells doesn’t matter. Three enzymes; Trypsin, Collagenase, and Pronase can be used in combination with EDTA. The combination of these enzymes with the EDTA makes cells detach from the growth medium.

This method is easy but also has a downside. It can damage the cell surface by eating up exposed cell surface proteins. EDTA can be used alone to detach cells from their medium and it is gentler than using trypsin.

Normally, collected cells are placed in a new suspension, or growth medium to continue growing new cultures. This is referred to as passaging or splitting the cells.