Europe Continuous Bioprocessing Market (2025-2032)

Continuous manufacturing is an emerging trend spanning various industries. From automotive to paper, businesses are embracing continuous manufacturing to enhance efficiency and bolster profits. The shift from batch to continuous manufacturing is gaining traction in the biopharmaceuticals sector due to the surge in demand for intricate therapies and heightened market competition. Continuous bioprocessing is increasingly being adopted due to its agility, flexibility, efficiency, and robustness. This approach streamlines processes by minimizing steps, utilizing compact facilities and equipment, and enhancing product quality to facilitate real-time release.

The growth of the continuous bioprocessing market in Europe is attributed to recent product launches and advances in the continuous bioprocessing space, gradual adoption of continuous manufacturing, and initiatives supporting the adoption of biopharmaceuticals. Furthermore, the shift towards bioprocessing 4.0 and the rising adoption of personalized medicines are expected to provide significant market growth opportunities.

However, the limitations of continuous bioprocessing may restrain the growth of this market. Additionally, manufacturers’ hesitation to shift from batch manufacturing to continuous manufacturing poses challenges to the market players.

Over the years, significant strides have been taken in bioprocessing to achieve cost reductions, enhance product yield, and seamlessly integrate upstream and downstream processing. Progress in upstream processing has been concentrated on essential aspects such as elevating volumetric productivity through process intensification, amplifying cell-specific productivity, leveraging cellular and molecular biology, and expediting process development timelines.

Bioprocessing operations have also led to continuous improvements in cell expression systems and the development and improvement of disposable bioreactors impacting bioprocessing operations, leading to new product launches. For instance,

In February 2022, Sartorius AG (Germany) completed the acquisition of Novasep Holding SAS (France). The portfolio acquired comprises chromatography systems primarily suited for smaller biomolecules, such as oligonucleotides, peptides, and insulin, and innovative systems for continuous biologics manufacturing.

In November 2020, Eppendorf AG (Germany) upgraded its well-known Eppendorf ThermoMixer C with a heating/cooling/mixing function to develop the new exchangeable thermoblock, SmartBlock cryo thaw, that carries out the reliable and reproducible thawing of cells from frozen storage temperatures to over 370C.

In March 2020, Sartorius AG (Germany) launched the next-generation BIOSTAT STR Generation 3 and BIOBRAIN automation platform for addressing the critical requirements and complexity of biologics manufacturing.

Thus, the increasing product launches and innovation are driving the growth of the continuous bioprocessing market in Europe.

The demand for innovative manufacturing methods like continuous processing is rising due to the increasing influx of vaccine and therapeutic candidates in the pipeline. Furthermore, the impact of COVID-19 has increased the need for extensive-volume bioproduction. In response, numerous vendors are scaling up their manufacturing and production capacities to cater to the escalating demand for biopharmaceutical products. For instance,

In September 2022, Eppendorf AG (Germany) expanded its bioprocess site in Jülich, Germany, to increase its bioprocess solutions production capacity by up to 20%.

In June 2022, Merck KGaA (Germany) expanded the production capacity of its Life Science business segment—Highly Potent Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (HPAPI), with the expansion of its facility in Wisconsin, U.S., by investing USD 62 million (EUR 59 million).

In September 2022, Merck KGaA (Germany) expanded its manufacturing capacity for the Mobius single-use portfolio by investing USD 137 million (EUR 130 million) in Molsheim, France.