Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB) and GE Healthcare's Life Sciences business has announced they have entered into a worldwide OEM (Original equipment manufacturer) supply agreement for SSB's innovative membrane adsorber purification technology, Sartobind.

Under the terms of the agreement, SSB will manufacture membrane adsorber technologies for GE which will be marketed as part of GE's ReadyToProcess product offerings. Membrane adsorber ion-exchange technology is widely used in the industry for the removal of contaminants such as endotoxins and viruses during the production of protein-based drugs, and can offer manufacturers advantages compared to other techniques. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Mr Reinhard Vogt, executive vice-president of Marketing, Sales and Services, Sartorius Stedim Biotech said, "This agreement with GE is exciting for the team at SSB and will further establish our innovative purification technologies into new applications, processes and platforms worldwide. We're looking forward to working with GE and to further help the dynamic and fast-moving biopharmaceutical industry meet the challenges of today and tomorrow."

Ms Catarina Flyborg, BioProcess Downstream Product Leader at GE Healthcare's Life Sciences business said, "The biopharmaceutical industry worldwide is facing increasing pressure to continually reduce costs, increase efficiency and improve quality. Our vision is that an integrated manufacturing approach where every stage - from choice of cell culture media right through to selecting the best approach to purification - has the potential to improve product yields and reduce time to market. We are excited to be working with Sartorius Stedim Biotech and to be able to expand our toolbox with their innovative technologies."

The new products will be marketed by GE under the brand "ReadyToPocess Adsorber".