Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE: DCI), a leading worldwide manufacturer of innovative filtration and separation products and solutions, and PolyPeptide Group AG (SIX: PPGN), a global leader in peptide manufacturing,announced their collaboration on the development of a production scale solvent recovery system for use in peptide purification. Peptides are used as the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in therapeutic areas, which continue to broaden and include metabolic disorders, oncology, infectious diseases, orphan diseases, cardiovascular, neurology or gastro-enterology applications.

The collaboration between Donaldson and PolyPeptide marks a milestone in the pharmaceutical industry's pursuit of environmentally friendly manufacturing practices. By leveraging Donaldson's experience in filtration and separation technologies and PolyPeptide’s expertise in peptide synthesis, the partnership aims to introduce a pioneering solution for reclaiming and purifying acetonitrile used in peptide purification. The technology is intended to be utilized for the benefit of the entire peptide manufacturing industry.

The patented, three-step solvent recovery technology was deployed as a pilot system at Polypeptide’s manufacturing site in Torrance, California. The system recovers chromatography solvent and returns the acetonitrile to a level of purity that can be reused in the peptide manufacturing process, which significantly reduces solvent consumption and waste generation while maintaining high product purity.

Current peptide manufacturing processes use large quantities of solvents. These are often mixed with water in the peptide purification process and are then disposed of through incineration, posing environmental challenges. The introduction of this new, advanced separation technology for acetonitrile used in purification allows the water content in the solvent mixture to be effectively removed, recovering the solvent for purification and reuse.

“Donaldson is committed to solving complex filtration and separation challenges to advance life- changing therapies and supporting sustainable manufacturing practices,” said Andrew Dahlgren, president Life Sciences. “We are excited to collaborate with a global peptide leader like PolyPeptide on this solvent recovery technology to support the industry’s sustainability goals.”

“At PolyPeptide, we collaborate with our customers in the early product development phase to apply relevant principles of green chemistry,” said Brad Grossman, head of production for PolyPeptide in Torrance. “Our partnership with Donaldson is part of our comprehensive innovation efforts to reduce, recycle, replace, or even avoid hazardous solvents used in production.”