Recently, a Swiss customer delegation paid a dedicated visit to Yocell, gaining an on-site understanding of the technical performance and operating behavior of Yocell's fermenters, high-pressure homogenizers, tangential flow filtration (TFF) systems and FPLC protein purification equipment. The two parties held a dedicated meeting on the products' technical features, application scenarios and cooperation directions in the Swiss and European markets, and reached a preliminary consensus on future cooperation.
The customer's company is a Swiss equipment supplier whose business focuses on three areas — biopharmaceuticals, cosmetics R&D and manufacturing, and university teaching and research — and has built up solid resources in instrument selection, channel distribution and technical service in these fields. The visit aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of Yocell's product R&D and manufacturing capabilities in fermentation culture, cell disruption, membrane separation and chromatographic purification, laying the foundation for future cooperation between the two parties.
The exchange took place in the demo room at Yocell's office, where fermenters, high-pressure homogenizers, TFF systems and FPLC purification systems were set up as complete demo units. In an environment close to real operating conditions, the customer examined the structural design, configuration options and operating procedures of each unit in turn. Yocell's technical team carried out live running demonstrations on the demo units and gave detailed explanations of the selection logic for key components, process integration and routine maintenance.
At the fermenter demo unit, the customer went through the technical parameters, structural features and application scenarios of different types of fermenters one by one. In light of different user needs — bioprocess development in biopharmaceuticals, fermentation-based production of cosmetic ingredients, and university teaching and research — the technical team explained the differences among fermenter types in working volume, agitation and aeration configuration, and parameter control methods. This helped the customer clarify selection criteria and provided matching solutions for the feed material upstream of cell disruption and purification.
At the high-pressure homogenizer demo unit, the customer and Yocell's technical team exchanged views on pressure control and temperature control. Drawing on live operation, the team explained how homogenization pressure settings and pressure stability affect processing results, the mechanisms behind feed temperature rise and the means of temperature control, and the equipment's pressure-holding capability under continuous operation. The team also presented application cases across multiple dimensions, covering pharmaceuticals, cell disruption, cosmetic emulsification and beverage processing in the food industry.
On TFF systems, the technical team explained the use of tangential flow filtration for feed concentration, diafiltration and buffer exchange, along with the control logic for pumping, transmembrane pressure and flow monitoring, and how flow path and membrane module selection can reduce shear and preserve target product yield.
The FPLC protein purification system was the focus of the visit. The customer examined in detail the technical features and configuration options of the NExTract series protein purification system. The technical team explained each core module — the system pump, mixer, injection valve, column valve, UV detector, conductivity/temperature detector, pH detector and fraction collector — and demonstrated the operation of the software system on site. The team also gave a dedicated briefing on the material selection for key components such as pumps, valves and flow cells, and on the brands and selection considerations for pH, conductivity and UV sensors, addressing the customer's concerns about long-term operational reliability and maintenance cost. The series features a modular design with flexible expansion, covering scale requirements from laboratory R&D to pilot-scale upscaling. It is equipped with a high-precision titanium alloy plunger pump offering good biocompatibility and corrosion resistance; the integrated valve design effectively minimizes overall delay volume in the flow path; the pH valve supports multiple flow path schemes; and the software integrates DOE functionality to assist users with experimental design and process optimization. In addition, the system complies with FDA 21 CFR Part 11, GLP, GMP and other relevant regulations, and features multi-user permission management, data backup and audit trail functions, meeting the biopharmaceutical industry's stringent requirements for data security and compliance.
From fermentation culture and cell disruption to membrane separation and chromatographic purification, Yocell can provide customers with an equipment portfolio covering the main steps of downstream processing. This complete chain was repeatedly highlighted during the visit and gave the customer a more intuitive understanding of equipment integration and process scale-up paths.
In the subsequent meeting, the two parties held in-depth discussions on cooperation details, including the application prospects of FPLC and other equipment in the Swiss and European markets, technical training arrangements and after-sales support. The customer highlighted the equipment's automatic control capability, considering it outstanding in method execution, parameter interlocking and ease of operation, and spoke highly of the system's operational stability and user-friendliness. The customer stated that it will fully leverage its channel advantages and technical service capabilities in the Swiss market to promote the application of Yocell's fermenters, homogenizers, TFF and FPLC equipment in Switzerland's biopharmaceutical, cosmetics and university teaching and research sectors.
Yocell stated that since its establishment in 2016, the company has always focused on biopharmaceutical downstream process solutions, with products sold to global markets including Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Russia. The preliminary cooperation consensus reached with the Swiss customer marks an important step for Yocell in further expanding into the European market. In the future, the two parties will engage in deeper cooperation around technical support, market promotion and customer service for FPLC and other equipment, jointly contributing to the high-quality development of the related industries in Switzerland.
