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BIOPROCESSING TOOLS
The bioprocessing microfiltration and ultrafiltration business
is dominated by two large multinational companies:
Millipore, servicing the biopharmaceutical and research industries only,
and the biopharmaceutical segment of the Pall Corporation.
A third company, Sartorius, is gaining market share in the ultrafiltration segment.
In all, the biopharmaceutical industry spends at least 600 millions Euro p.a. on filters and filtration equipment.
The world market for the pilot to production-scale bioreactors and fermentors is estimated to 300 millions Euro.
The value of the bioprocessing industry to the manufacturers of centrifuges, homogenisers, mills,
and filter holders is difficult to estimate since the technologies are also applicable to other industries, it should be also in the range of 300 million Euro.
In the chromatographic separations sector, total sales are estimated to 800 millions Euro p.a.
GE Healthcare leads the field but there are at least fifteen other companies with appreciable market shares.
In bioprocess analysis and control, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and electrophoretic gel separations are the most commonly used techniques.
Waters is now the world leader in HPLC systems and has extended into mass spectrometry. The company has sales of almost $860m, of which approximately 60 per cent is in HPLC sales alone.
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