AkzoNobel, DSM and Philips are names of companies that have now supported the ARC Evidence Based Sensing initiative. The intention is to set up a research program in the Netherlands in the order of five to ten million euros per year with a term of ten years. That is quite something. The ambition is based on the process industry's need for a completely new generation of sensors: chemical and biochemical sensors that work based on selective binding to certain molecules. Sensors that should facilitate the upcoming biotransition in the process industry. These sensors are first used in the lab, when designing new processes, but no matter how complex the scale-up to production may be, it will happen faster than people are used to. You are talking about continuous processes and no longer about recipes and batches. By the way, rest assured, FHI suppliers, sensors for measuring physical quantities will certainly not disappear. FHI, together with NPT, the Dutch Process Technologists, brought three stakeholders around the table for an 'enlightening conversation'. Place of action: Wageningen University, cradle of bioprocess technology and place where you can immediately see a reactor in practice that refines various products from algae. The passionate researcher there is Michel Eppink, part-time professor at WUR and also head downstream processing of the successful Dutch pharmaceutical production company Synthon.
Michel Eppink
His discussion partners are Maarten Honing, professor by special appointment at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and principal scientist at DSM Resolve, plus Menno Prins, professor of 'Molecular Biosensors for Medical Diagnostics' at TU Eindhoven. Prins previously worked at Philips Research for almost twenty years, so the entire scholarly trio has strong roots in the business world. The fourth man, Henk-Jan van Manen, team leader Process Analytics at AkzoNobel, did not make it to the conversation, but read along as a person involved in the realization of this article. Menno kicks off. “The development of sensors for continuous monitoring is really becoming a 'must'. We work on medical applications, and with the rise of PAT, Process Analytical Technology, the pharmaceutical industry is also becoming very interesting.” Prins talks about 'a small ribbon in the skin'. “There are already commercially available sensors that are worn in the skin like a ribbon, with which diabetes patients can continuously measure their glucose levels. A major limitation is that the underlying enzymatic measurement technique is only suitable for glucose. We develop new measurement methods that will be able to measure a wide range of molecules, based on specific binding affinity molecules. The special feature of our sensors is that they can register the binding and unbinding of single molecules as a function of time. The sensor therefore provides a very accurate digital measurement right from the start.” In Eindhoven, Menno Prins researches the continuous measurement of proteins, metabolites and medicines. “These measurements are very relevant for patients in the hospital and for patients who you would like to continuously monitor at home.” “This is comparable to cell culture for medicine,” says Michel Eppink from his Synthon practice. “You have to continuously monitor whether the protein molecules are good. This applies to every form of purification
Maarten Honing
interest." “So we are talking about affinity binding sensors, based on structure affinity,” Maarten Honing emphasizes, just to be clear. Eppink: “The technology is also relevant for chemical synthesis. It is about separating impurity” (impurity, ed.). “At DSM we look at, among other things, 'biomedical', antifouling coatings (against 'caking', ed.). We also see a trend in which biomedical materials not only have specific physical properties, but also show biological 'activity'. To study this, you also need to have knowledge of material-biology interactions. Surface Plasmon Resonance is a technology that can provide insight into adsorption, especially its kinetics, in both biopolymers and cells. However, in order to use SPR as a specific sensor for different molecules at the same time, we not only need to 'multiplex' (combine different data streams into a signal, ed.), but also be able to measure increasingly more accurately on the micro and nano scale.” Eppink again. “When looking for sensors for PAT, you want to be able to determine whether a protein is still functional. Then purity is very important. Only pure material is allowed into the body.” The drive towards more in-line and at-line analysis that the men mention is already quite widespread, as evidenced by the recent attention to this at the FHI Instrumentation & Analysis Days. Synthon does not do the sensor development itself. Collaboration with universities and SMEs is preferred. These companies can then continue the development. “At that stage it is difficult for Synthon to place concrete orders with SMEs. “Support is provided 'in kind'. The problem is that you are in a very early phase and the development time takes quite some time. You don't know whether the developed sensors always reach the finish line. Very occasionally, work is done on the basis of a business agreement.
Menno Prins
Prins: “We focus on the development of new sensor technology in Eindhoven. In addition to conducting research, we are also working on setting up a start-up.” Now Maarten Honing takes his talking chair. “Within the top sector of Chemistry (where Honing sits on two of the program councils, ed.), the need for sensor and microreactor development is great. I recognize that at DSM. There is a growing need for scouting 'in process'. We already do this on a lab scale, in the process design phase. We can then use relatively advanced technologies, such as NMR, nuclear magnetic resonance and MS, mass spectrometry. We use this to look for process-relevant molecular markers. The question is which 'sensing' technology you can use to continue this in the factory, during the final production process. This still requires many technological breakthroughs. Glucose is already possible, but as Menno Prins said, we need to be able to do it for many more different molecules. We need new measuring methods and new binding factors, because of the preconditions of high sensitivity and high selectivity. Now we can only work on the basis of 'trial and error'. That is far too cumbersome for the translation from design to production and back again.” Just an example from chemistry. “Following the poisoning process of catalysts can be very important there. In the 'process design' phase it is possible to perform 'on-line' TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy, ed.), but here too the use of such complex and expensive measuring technologies in production is not realistic. In addition to costs, reliability and robustness are also a crucial factor in being able to monitor production processes sustainably. The translation into small, low-maintenance instruments is not trivial and requires a lot of knowledge from analysts and process technologists.” It is a story with a history. “We have actually been dealing with this for thirty years. And look what we have achieved. Only a few sensors have been realized yet, let alone that we can already fully multiplex. AkzoNobel has realized a number of things, for pregnancy tests and the like.” According to Maarten Honing, we are ready for it now. Everything is now possible on a very small scale, just look at the semiconductor industry. So we must also be able to measure and regulate on that scale.” Halfway through the conversation, the group takes a look at Michel Eppink's lab, near the system for growing and refining algae. The photo shoot is successful and opinions are strengthened. Menno Prins returns to his medical domain. “The physical measurements that we currently perform on patients, such as blood pressure and heart rate, can and should be expanded to chemical measurements. What we have now mastered for glucose can also be done for other substances. And from there we can move on to other sectors.” Honey fills that in immediately. “Flow Chemistry technology has not yet made sufficient breakthrough. It seems that it is still too easy to make money with the existing batch processes. But there is hope. A company like Vertex Pharmaceuticals has now received FDA approval for products based on flow chemistry and the Green Chemistry Institute of the American Chemical Society is also advocating for this. The fact that you get a better PAT performance through flow chemistry helps enormously as an argument.” By the way, if you google it, the argument 'lack of talent' in relation to flow chemistry appears. Could be an excuse, of course, to stick with the old familiar... Gentlemen, why should we invest in this in the Netherlands?
“Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this development,” says Menno Prins. “We are good at that in the Netherlands.” Eppink agrees. Americans prefer not to work in consortia. They have difficulty sharing IP, intellectual property, knowledge and experience. We notice that the Americans are scouring the Netherlands for knowledge and technology that we develop.” When you hear that comment, you immediately think of PPG and AkzoNobel. Maarten: “We have a great knowledge infrastructure in the Netherlands.” Menno: 'It is relatively easy in our country to get academic research groups to collaborate with each other and with companies.” “Pillarization has become taboo,” is Maarten Honing's one-liner. “And we have a good and growing industry of enabling instrumentation builders.” Expectations are high. With TI COAST, the research community for analytical chemistry, as the driving force, we are working hard on plans for a long-term public-private partnership, under the working name 'ARC Evidence Based Sensing'. ARC stands for Advanced Research Center, and the design is similar to the examples of the ARC for NanoLithography, the ARC for Chemical Building Blocks and the ARC Qutech, for quantum computing. The FHI Laboratory Technology branch and MinacNed, the micronano technology branch, are directly involved in the development of the plans, which would cover a period of ten years. Now a new cabinet is needed to actually allocate the necessary money. Although, where opportunities lie, entrepreneurs do not allow themselves to be stopped... It can be expected that the translation into concrete projects can already be partly presented at the annual sensor conference, The Sense of Contact, edition 19, this year on December 13 in the Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam. http://senseofcontact.nl.
Verkoop, marketing en applicatie van meet, regel, en analyse instrumenten voor druk-, vacuüm en gasflow alsmede bouwdelen voor vacuümprocessen. Generatoren voor het creëren van plasma’s en reactieve gassen. Analyse apparatuur…
About Bihl+Wiedemann Bihl+Wiedemann GmbH was founded in 1992 in Mannheim, Germany by Jochen Bihl and Bernhard Wiedemann. The highly specialized engineering firm is among the leading providers of safety technology…
Michel Eppink
His discussion partners are Maarten Honing, professor by special appointment at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and principal scientist at DSM Resolve, plus Menno Prins, professor of 'Molecular Biosensors for Medical Diagnostics' at TU Eindhoven. Prins previously worked at Philips Research for almost twenty years, so the entire scholarly trio has strong roots in the business world. The fourth man, Henk-Jan van Manen, team leader Process Analytics at AkzoNobel, did not make it to the conversation, but read along as a person involved in the realization of this article. Menno kicks off. “The development of sensors for continuous monitoring is really becoming a 'must'. We work on medical applications, and with the rise of PAT, Process Analytical Technology, the pharmaceutical industry is also becoming very interesting.” Prins talks about 'a small ribbon in the skin'. “There are already commercially available sensors that are worn in the skin like a ribbon, with which diabetes patients can continuously measure their glucose levels. A major limitation is that the underlying enzymatic measurement technique is only suitable for glucose. We develop new measurement methods that will be able to measure a wide range of molecules, based on specific binding affinity molecules. The special feature of our sensors is that they can register the binding and unbinding of single molecules as a function of time. The sensor therefore provides a very accurate digital measurement right from the start.” In Eindhoven, Menno Prins researches the continuous measurement of proteins, metabolites and medicines. “These measurements are very relevant for patients in the hospital and for patients who you would like to continuously monitor at home.” “This is comparable to cell culture for medicine,” says Michel Eppink from his Synthon practice. “You have to continuously monitor whether the protein molecules are good. This applies to every form of purification
“Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this development,” says Menno Prins. “We are good at that in the Netherlands.” Eppink agrees. Americans prefer not to work in consortia. They have difficulty sharing IP, intellectual property, knowledge and experience. We notice that the Americans are scouring the Netherlands for knowledge and technology that we develop.” When you hear that comment, you immediately think of PPG and AkzoNobel. Maarten: “We have a great knowledge infrastructure in the Netherlands.” Menno: 'It is relatively easy in our country to get academic research groups to collaborate with each other and with companies.” “Pillarization has become taboo,” is Maarten Honing's one-liner. “And we have a good and growing industry of enabling instrumentation builders.” Expectations are high. With TI COAST, the research community for analytical chemistry, as the driving force, we are working hard on plans for a long-term public-private partnership, under the working name 'ARC Evidence Based Sensing'. ARC stands for Advanced Research Center, and the design is similar to the examples of the ARC for NanoLithography, the ARC for Chemical Building Blocks and the ARC Qutech, for quantum computing. The FHI Laboratory Technology branch and MinacNed, the micronano technology branch, are directly involved in the development of the plans, which would cover a period of ten years. Now a new cabinet is needed to actually allocate the necessary money. Although, where opportunities lie, entrepreneurs do not allow themselves to be stopped... It can be expected that the translation into concrete projects can already be partly presented at the annual sensor conference, The Sense of Contact, edition 19, this year on December 13 in the Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam. http://senseofcontact.nl. 
Michel Eppink
His discussion partners are Maarten Honing, professor by special appointment at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and principal scientist at DSM Resolve, plus Menno Prins, professor of 'Molecular Biosensors for Medical Diagnostics' at TU Eindhoven. Prins previously worked at Philips Research for almost twenty years, so the entire scholarly trio has strong roots in the business world. The fourth man, Henk-Jan van Manen, team leader Process Analytics at AkzoNobel, did not make it to the conversation, but read along as a person involved in the realization of this article. Menno kicks off. “The development of sensors for continuous monitoring is really becoming a 'must'. We work on medical applications, and with the rise of PAT, Process Analytical Technology, the pharmaceutical industry is also becoming very interesting.” Prins talks about 'a small ribbon in the skin'. “There are already commercially available sensors that are worn in the skin like a ribbon, with which diabetes patients can continuously measure their glucose levels. A major limitation is that the underlying enzymatic measurement technique is only suitable for glucose. We develop new measurement methods that will be able to measure a wide range of molecules, based on specific binding affinity molecules. The special feature of our sensors is that they can register the binding and unbinding of single molecules as a function of time. The sensor therefore provides a very accurate digital measurement right from the start.” In Eindhoven, Menno Prins researches the continuous measurement of proteins, metabolites and medicines. “These measurements are very relevant for patients in the hospital and for patients who you would like to continuously monitor at home.” “This is comparable to cell culture for medicine,” says Michel Eppink from his Synthon practice. “You have to continuously monitor whether the protein molecules are good. This applies to every form of purification
“Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this development,” says Menno Prins. “We are good at that in the Netherlands.” Eppink agrees. Americans prefer not to work in consortia. They have difficulty sharing IP, intellectual property, knowledge and experience. We notice that the Americans are scouring the Netherlands for knowledge and technology that we develop.” When you hear that comment, you immediately think of PPG and AkzoNobel. Maarten: “We have a great knowledge infrastructure in the Netherlands.” Menno: 'It is relatively easy in our country to get academic research groups to collaborate with each other and with companies.” “Pillarization has become taboo,” is Maarten Honing's one-liner. “And we have a good and growing industry of enabling instrumentation builders.” Expectations are high. With TI COAST, the research community for analytical chemistry, as the driving force, we are working hard on plans for a long-term public-private partnership, under the working name 'ARC Evidence Based Sensing'. ARC stands for Advanced Research Center, and the design is similar to the examples of the ARC for NanoLithography, the ARC for Chemical Building Blocks and the ARC Qutech, for quantum computing. The FHI Laboratory Technology branch and MinacNed, the micronano technology branch, are directly involved in the development of the plans, which would cover a period of ten years. Now a new cabinet is needed to actually allocate the necessary money. Although, where opportunities lie, entrepreneurs do not allow themselves to be stopped... It can be expected that the translation into concrete projects can already be partly presented at the annual sensor conference, The Sense of Contact, edition 19, this year on December 13 in the Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam. http://senseofcontact.nl. 
Nederlands