Spotlight on

BioProcessing & Industrial BioTech

Making bioproducts is far from easy, often requiring an in-depth understanding of cellular culture dynamics, cell biology & metabolism, fluid dynamics, process engineering, bioreactor design, biochemical and dynamic aspects of purification processes, process control, and data driven modelling. This work is absolutely crucial, without bioprocessing there is no product!  Conversely, improvements in any aspect of bioprocessing can have enormous value as even small productivity or quality improvements to such high value products are impactful, and improvements can often apply to multiple products.  

Our advanced bioprocessing team has extensive experience obtaining and defending IP in this complex field, both in relation to upstream and downstream processes innovation. We have a multidisciplinary team that mirrors the complexity and diversity of technical expertise of our clients working in this field, including experts in cell biology and biochemistry and their specific implications to bioprocessing, traditional bioprocessing including running and optimising fermentation processes, data & AI driven analysis of bioprocesses including for monitoring, prediction and optimisation of bioprocesses, dynamical modelling of bioprocesses, process engineering, and bioreactor design. 

We work together across different technical fields to make sure that all aspects are properly considered, so that the value of your IP is maximised. We understand intimately the complex technical, practical and commercial realities of working in this high value, highly regulated industry. We have successfully defended high value patent portfolios in this field, as well as helped our clients navigate freedom to operate. We are experts in drafting for success in all aspects of upstream and downstream processes. 

Read our Blogs

Alchemab: the art of AI antibody discovery

Alchemab: the art of AI antibody discovery

by Camille Terfve

Alchemab’s artificial intelligence platform enables the identification of antibodies for some of the toughest jobs in pharma, from treating Alzheimer’s to beating cancer.

GENE-ius options to protect gene therapies

GENE-ius options to protect gene therapies

by Anna Mudge

Gene therapies involve treating patients by manipulating their genetic makeup. Such therapies may involve introducing corrected versions of defective genes, shutting-down the expression of ...

UPC Weekly - UPC confirms approach to inventive step for life science inventions

UPC Weekly - UPC confirms approach to inventive step for life science inventions

by Matthew Naylor

2024 Week 43 10x Genomics and NanoString have been duking it out at the UPC since the court opened its doors in summer 2023. Litigation is also going on in the US and elsewhere in Europe. Here we ...

UPC Weekly - Light emitting diode patent falls into a black hole of invalidity

UPC Weekly - Light emitting diode patent falls into a black hole of invalidity

by Matthew Naylor

2024 Week 42 Last week we did a deep dive into some LED technology to explain the decision of the UPC Local Division Düsseldorf in Seoul Viosys v Expert Klein. In that decision, the Local Division ...

Chambers & Partners 2025 legal guide - Band 1

Chambers & Partners 2025 legal guide - Band 1

by Joanna Smith

We are proud to have once again been ranked Band 1 (gold) in Chambers & Partners 2025 legal guide for Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys UK.

UPC Weekly - A pro-patent decision on infringement and validity

UPC Weekly - A pro-patent decision on infringement and validity

by Matthew Naylor

2024 Week 41 This week we report on Seoul Viosys v Expert Klein, a full decision on infringement and validity by the UPC Local Division Düsseldorf. In the few full decisions on the merits that we ...

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Bioprocessing & Industrial Biotechnology - Protecting Innovation

With the development of increasingly advanced therapeutics and other products - from vaccines and cell therapies to food products and biofuels - bioprocessing and industrial biotechnology are becoming more important than ever.

Developing and scaling up biotechnological processes can be technically challenging and require significant investment in research and development.

Patent protection enables to secure these advancements and creates a competitive advantage for the innovators in this field.  It  is no surprise that patents covering platform technologies in biotech manufacturing are highly valuable and often challenged  by third parties.

Our team has significant  experience in drafting and defending bioprocessing patents.  We have successfully defended patents protecting antibody manufacturing and processing methods, including in multi-opponent EPO opposition proceedings .

We understand the challenges associated with developing bioprocessing and manufacturing methods.  Inventions in this field often lie on great technical stories that involve creative solutions to technical problems that only arise, or become particularly acute during large scale industrial processes.  For example, the recognition of a previously unnoticed problem during early-stage development, such as the discovery that certain cell culture components are the cause for problematic visual characteristics in the bioproduct, or that surprising loss of intact antibody yield during scaled-up manufacture is due to specific redox reactions in the cell culture fluid following fermentation, or that purification methods successfully used at laboratory scale introduce undesirable impurities into product that needs to be overcome when purification is scaled-up.  The research leading to the recognition of these problems and the steps taken to solve them in an imaginative way may form the basis of a strong inventive story which is worthy of patent protection, but one where an understanding of bioprocessing is needed to properly draft the strong patent applications.

Forward Magazines Overlapping 8

Mewburn Ellis

FORWARD MAGAZINE

Mewburn Ellis Forward is a biannual publication that celebrates the best of innovation and exploration. Through its pages we hope to inform and entertain, but also to encourage discussion about the most compelling developments taking place in the scientific and entrepreneurial world. Along the way, we’ll engage with the IP challenges that international organisations face every day.