Fit-for-scale filtration for intensified and streamlined processes.
Remove the capacity bottleneck, enable process intensification and streamline manufacturing — unlocking the economics of modern bioprocessing and transforming industrial water management.
Pilot → commercial
What stands between biology and affordable production.
Upstream output is capped
Fed-batch bioreactors run far below their potential. Without cost-effective perfusion, cell densities stay low and output is capped — forcing more vessels, and higher capital and operating cost.
Downstream cost is prohibitive
Broken batch workflows force repeated holding steps that inflate cost and block automation, while cleaning downtime erodes equipment utilization.
Waste streams are mismanaged
Industrial and municipal waste streams place mounting pressure on ecosystems, and existing membrane systems are too costly to scale.
Filtration is one of the most critical bottlenecks.
Three obstacles hold back biomanufacturing, and one operation sits behind all of them. The promise of affordable, sustainable biomanufacturing remains unrealized — blocked at every stage by legacy infrastructure that was never designed to scale. Filtration is among the most-used and most rate-limiting steps in bioprocessing and industrial water management, limiting throughput, inflating operating cost, generating consumable waste, and blocking the transition to continuous, integrated manufacturing.
The bottleneck is not a materials problem or a chemistry problem — it is a fluid mechanics design problem, and it demands a new flow design solution.
What becomes possible once the bottleneck is gone.
Two purpose-built platforms, each built from first principles against a distinct failure mode.
Scalable and Efficient Operations — Novel Tubular Membrane Filter Design
- 70% lower cleaning time and cost
- 3× effective processing capacity from the same footprint
- Reusable format, far less consumable waste
- Lower total cost of ownership
Perfusion Platform — cell culture and precision fermentation without a capacity ceiling
- 5–10× bioreactor output through process intensification
- Dramatically higher cell densities for continuous fermentation
- No expansion of facility footprint
- Continuous operation in place of batch
The economics change.
Lower cost, more capacity, and less waste — unlocking affordable, scalable, sustainable biomanufacturing.
Perfusion shifts the entire cost structure.
Each cost category collapses when perfusion replaces fed-batch: labor, equipment, facility, and indirect. Labor and CAPEX savings dominate — and perfusion filtration is the key enabling technology.
3 perfusion 20,000 L bioreactors deliver output equivalent to 24 fed-batch 20,000 L bioreactors.
| $183M | lower COGS — total cost of goods drops from $224M (fed-batch) to $41M (perfusion) |
| $135M | OPEX savings — operating expense falls from $162M to $28M |
| $48M | CAPEX savings — capital expense falls from $61M to $13M |
TEA assumptions: 800 tonne/year target capacity, upstream scope, USA manufacture, annualized CAPEX, conventional production platform. Perfusion modeled with ceramic membrane at 0.5–0.7 vvd bleed. Full breakdown available on request.
A fundamental improvement in filtration creates broad impact.
Our platforms address the limits of tubular filter design across biopharma manufacturing and industrial water management. See all applications →
Bioprocessing
- Upstream process intensification — perfusion and higher cell densities for continuous fermentation, 5–10× bioreactor output with no added footprint.
- Downstream debottlenecking — remove filtration as the constraint and raise facility throughput at the same footprint.
- Continuous processing — eliminate holding tanks and buffer steps, reduce CAPEX and enable advanced automation.
- Manufacturing wastewater — cut the cost of filtering fermentation and bioprocess waste streams by 70% or more.
Industrial & Environmental
Reusable membranes give concentrated, high-solid streams the throughput and economics conventional cartridge systems cannot.
- Milk whey valorization — recover protein and lactose from fouling-prone, protein-rich dairy streams.
- Mining water pre-treatment — filter high-turbidity process water, improving mineral recovery and enabling reuse.
- Fermentation medium recirculation — remove cells and debris, cutting COD, BOD and fresh water use.
- Municipal wastewater — expand throughput at existing plants and enable UV, RO and advanced oxidation.
Ready to intensify your process?
Talk to our team about the right Tanda platform for your scale.
Contact us →Supported by leading innovation programs.
We appreciate the support of federal agencies, world-class universities, and Illinois state innovation programs.
Acknowledgment: This work is supported in part by NSF SBIR funding, the University of Chicago Polsky Center, the Illinois Innovation Voucher program, and the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.