Implementation of inherently safer design philosophy in bioprocessing industry

摘要

The bioprocessing industry is regarded as one of the fastest growing sectors with an estimated compound annual growth rate of 8.6%. In the year 2017, the global market for biopharmaceuticals alone was valued at USD 727.1 billion. Due to the unique nature of bioprocessing industries where in micro-organisms are employed to manufacture the desired products, these processes are prone to additional hazards such as biological hazards and dust explosion amongst others. This necessitates the need to review the existing research in the fields of biotechnology and bioprocessing to reduce/eliminate these hazards and pave the path towards a safer bioprocessing industry. The study involves developing a framework comprising of studying the recent technologies that reduce/eliminate these hazards involved in the bioprocessing industries that include dust explosions, loss of containment of toxic chemicals, loss of containment of biohazard/active product ingredient, fire, and explosion and mapping these technologies with respect to inherent safety principles that include substitution, minimization, moderation and simplification with an overall objective of minimizing the risk associated with bioprocesses and moving towards an inherently safer bioprocessing industry.