SBIR Phase I: Asymmetric Block Copolymer Membranes for Ultrafiltration

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project addresses separation needs of biopharmaceutical manufacturers by developing novel membranes with exceptional performance. Currently available membranes used to separate therapeutic proteins suffer from broad pore size variations, resulting in additional expensive processing steps to the separations. TeraPore's patented membrane technology enables the production of high throughput membranes with uniform pores with sizes targeted to proteins used in medicine, resulting in cheaper, more efficient separations. Customer needs in this industry are dependent on the specific molecules being separated, requiring a suite of membranes with tunable and reproducible pore sizes. This feasibility study will show that changing the molecular structure of the polymers used to make the membranes can control this pore size effectively. The outcome of this research will allow TeraPore to make a variety of membrane products and specifically design polymers that results in membranes that address specific customer needs. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project includes the production of high margin membrane products that will significantly improve efficiency in the processing of therapeutic biomolecules. The US market for membrane technology in biopharmaceutical processing was $2.4B in 2011 and is growing at a rate of over 10%. Given the performance advances possible with TeraPore's membranes, the company intends to enter the marketplace through the biopharmaceutical processing market through separation/purification applications involving high value, high margin biopharma products processed by TeraPore's membranes.