Contract Services

KAM Biotechnology offers a complete range of services on a confidential basis. Project proposals and business protocols are developed rapidly and focused on your needs.

KAM project managers work together with your team, and provide regular progress reports. Confidentiality is strictly maintained. Client team members are invited to KAM during project work to directly participate in activities for the purposes of training and technology transfer.

Our customers range from small start-up companies to well-established corporations.

On this page you will find more information about:

• Fermentation Plant
• Treatability Studies
• Analytical Testing
• Staff Expertise

Fermentation Plant

KAM's state of the art analytical equipment includes HPLC, GC, automated video microscopes, and computerized microscopes, allowing faster and more accurate microbial counts and identifications. KAM is also equipped with automated 96 well plate readers for high throughput enzyme screening, molecular biology tools as well as many standard laboratory apparatus. Services include microbiological testing and chemical analyses of soils, waters, and wastewaters.

KAM Production Fermenters	Down Stream Processing Tank	Flask Culture
Quality Control	HPLC/GC Analyses	Fermentation Control System

The main pilot plant is suitable for process development and scale-up work on all the bacteria and Fungi listed on Canadian Domestic Substance Listing (DSL) which include aerobic, facultative anaerobic, spore-forming and non-spore forming microorganisms.

KAM Biotechnology's state-of-the-art Fermentation Pilot
Plant focuses on developing new products to meet the diverse needs of each client. The branch develops protocols for process transfer from the laboratory to commercial production. Flexible scheduling, and the development of robust and scalable fermentation strategies will maximize product yields. The Fermentation Pilot Plant offers:

1. contract research and development in bioprocess technologies
2. scale-up from bench-top to 1000 L
3. quality control
4. client/staff participation and training
5. a complete range of business arrangement options from service, on a confidential basis

KAM Fermentation Facilities

1 Biostat C-15 fermenter (B. Braun Biotech) with Micro-DCU controller

• in-situ sterilizable vessel with 10 L working volume
• membrane key-pad screen user interface with password security
• pH, temperature and stirrer monitoring and control
• pO₂ monitoring and control (cascade of stirrer, air flow and O₂ or N₂ supplement)
• level controlled or time profiled fed-batch operations
• re-sterilizable sample, harvest and addition valves

1 Biostat E-15 fermenter (B. Braun Biotech) with DCU3 controller

• in-situ sterilizable vessel with 10 L working volume
• membrane key-pad screen user interface with password security
• pH, temperature and stirrer monitoring and control
• pO₂ monitoring and control (cascade of stirrer, air flow and O₂ or N₂ supplement)
• level controlled or time profiled fed-batch operations
• re-sterilizable sample, harvest and addition valves

1 Bioflo 5000 Mobile Pilot Plant fermenter

• in-situ sterilizable vessel with 30-90 L working volume
• Fluorescent display screen capable of displaying both set point and current values
• pH, temperature and stirrer monitoring and control
• pO₂ monitoring and control (cascade of stirrer, air flow and O₂ or N₂ supplement)
• level controlled or time profiled fed-batch operations
• re-sterilizable sample, harvest and addition valves

1 Custom 80 L skid-mounted fermenter (W.H.E. Bio-Systems Inc.) with semi-automated systems

• in-situ sterilizable vessel with 20-60 L working volume
• Allen-Bradley SLC 5104 programmable logic controller (PLC) controls temperature, pressure, dissolved oxygen, pH and agitation speed
• controls the introduction of air, oxygen and ammonia gases as well as the addition of liquid anti-foam, nutrients and acids
• Cleaned-In-Place (CIP) and Steamed-In-Place (SIP) functions are under PLC control
• A panel view 900 operation interface to allow CIP, SIP, start, and stop process functions as well as to make set-point and parameters changes

2 Custom 500 L skid-mounted fermenter (W.H.E. Bio-Systems Inc.) with semi-automated systems

• in-situ sterilizable vessel with 125-375 L working volume
• Allen-Bradley SLC 5104 programmable logic controller (PLC) controls temperature, pressure, dissolved oxygen, pH and agitation speed
• controls the introduction of air, oxygen and ammonia gases as well as the addition of liquid anti-foam, nutrients and acids
• Cleaned-In-Place (CIP) and Steamed-In-Place (SIP) functions are under PLC control
• A panel view 900 operation interface to allow CIP, SIP, start, and stop process functions as well as to make set-point and parameters changes

1 Custom 750 L fermenter (B. Braun Biotech) with DCU3 controller

• in-situ sterilizable with 190 to 500 L working volume
• pH, temperature and stirrer monitoring and control
• pO₂ monitoring and air flow control
• level controlled
• re-sterilizable sample, harvest and addition valves

3 Custom 20 L bioreactors

• in-situ sterilizable with 14 L working volume
• pH, temperature and stirrer monitoring and control
• pO₂ monitoring and air flow control
• level controlled
• re-sterilizable sample, harvest and addition valves

1 Custom 250 L bioreactors

• in-situ sterilizable with 60-190 L working volume
• pH, temperature and stirrer monitoring and control
• pO₂ monitoring and air flow control
• level controlled
• re-sterilizable sample, harvest and addition valves

3 Custom 2000 L bioreactors

• in-situ sterilizable with 500-1500 L working volume
• pH, temperature and stirrer monitoring and control
• pO₂ monitoring and air flow control
• level controlled
• re-sterilizable sample, harvest and addition valves

Down Stream Processing

• Cassette cross flow filtration skid (Sartorius Sartocon II)
  • cell concentration (MF) or purification (UF)
  • holds 1 to 10 cassettes (0.6 m2 per cassette)
• Cassette cross flow bench-top filtration (Sartorius Sartocon Slice)
  • cell concentration (MF) or purification (UF), scale-up studies
  • holds 1 to 3 slice cassettes (0.1 m2 per cassette)
• High speed continuous feed centrifuge (Heraeus Contifuge 17RS)
  • collects up to 600 g of wet paste per batch
  • feed rate approximately 500 ml/min depending on material

Support Equipment

• Utility drop panels for connection of temporary equipment
• Biological safety cabinet Class II/Type B3
• 1 x 200 L (jacketed) stainless steel mixing tanks
• 2 x 15 L, 2 x 100 L stainless steel, sterilizable addition/product tanks
• Peristaltic Pumps (Masterflex)

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Central Fermenter Monitoring and Control System

• MFCS/win Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (B. Braun Biotech)
• Provides expanded control and monitoring capabilities in addition to local fermenter controllers
• Password protected access
• Reporting and plotting of fermentation batch results

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Process

• Filter integrity testing of cartridge and cross flow media (Sartorius Sartocheck 3)
• Off-gas analysis of all fermenters by multi-port mass spectrometer (ABB Extrel) with data link to MFCS/win fermenter software
• Freeze drier with vial stoppering (FTS Dura-Dry)

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Laboratory

• High Pressure Liquid Chromatography with photodiode array and Millenium 32
  chromatography manager software (Waters) with light scattering mass detector (Polymer Laboratories PL-ELS 1000)
• Spectrophotometer (Unicam UV300) with Vision32 software
• Viscometer (Haake VT500) with Rheowin software
• Glucose analyzer (YSI 2700) with sample turntable
• pH / conductivity meter (Orion 550A)
• Microscope (Zeiss Axiolab) - high field, dark-field, phase contrast, fluorescence phosphorescence with Nikon 990 digital camera
• Oven (VWR 1370GM) 20°C - 275°C
• Beckman Avanti J25 centrifuge
• Hycon Biotest Air Sampler
• Getinge Castle 222 Sterilizer
• Lauda Econoline Water Bath
• Labline Environ. Shaker
• ShelLab Incubation Shaker
• Balances - Sartorius models BP121S, LP420, SB32000 and Sartorius 30000.0g
• Certified thermometers, pressure gauges and weight set for instrument calibration
• Bacteria and yeast identification system (Biolog Microlog 3)
• Freezer (Forma Scientific -80°C)
• Gel electrophoresis
• Various microbial, chemical and quality assurance assays

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Treatability Studies

KAM Biotechnology is well equipped to perform treatability studies on wastewater treatment and soil bioremediation. Many of our clients send us wastewaters and soil samples for an in-house feasibility study in order to get a first hand understanding about exact dosing and time frame of the treatment using KAM products. This allows them to make a more accurate business proposal for actual field trials or direct field applications.

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Analytical Testing

KAM's state of the art analytical equipment includes HPLC, GC, automated video microscopes, and computerized microscopes, allowing faster and more accurate microbial counts and identifications. KAM is also equipped with automated 96 well plate readers for high throughput enzyme screening, molecular biology tools as well as many standard laboratory apparatus. Services include microbiological testing and chemical analyses of soils, waters, and wastewaters.

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Staff Expertise

Management and technical personnel have experience in biotechnology product research and development. They have diverse backgrounds in microbiology, biochemistry, and chemical engineering.

The Bioprocessing Lab performs bench-top scale research and microbial characterization as well as providing various microbial and chemical assays and Quality Control and Quality Assurance (QC/QA).
The Bioprocessing Lab performs bench-top culture experiments for media development, growth rate studies and enzymatic activity screening. Separation and analytical methods development is also performed using an assortment of technologies. Our analytical capabilities include HPLC, GC, spectrophotometers, Microscopy etc. An array of microbial and chemical assays are performed for QC/QA purposes and in support of bench-top and pilot scale fermentation activities.

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