The firm launched the new format of its existing product, known as Millistak+ Pod, at the IBC Bioprocess International Conference in San Francisco last week.

The growing use of single-use materials in bioprocessing, a method which involves taking living cells and turning them into manufacturing units, is due to the many advantages disposables offer over traditional glass and stainless-steel equipment.

Some of the benefits include lower capital cost, minimal cleaning expenses, and decreased validation costs.

By launching a smaller version of its existing disposable pod filter the company is opening up to a wider market, including particularly those making products for early stage studies.

"The introduction of the newest Millistak+ Pod is to address the need of manufacturers to process small-scale batches during the early phases of drug development," a Millipore spokesperson told In-PharmaTechnologist.com.

"These are typically in the range of five to 20 litres in size and are too small to be processed with a pilot-scale Pod filter."

In addition, the company said the new filter would provide linear scalability to its pilot- and process-scale Pods, which would improve scale-up design.

The smaller version of the Pod series is available in two sizes with 0.27 and 0.054 square metres of surface area and is capable of processing small bioreactor batches of 5-20 L, usually used for process optimisation, Millipore said.

It claims its filter system delivers unprecedented flexibility for clarification and prefiltration application.