Barbara

Each and every step of our production process is captured in the batch record. “We ensure good manufacturing practice (GMP) compliance, conformity and completeness of process documentation” says Dr Barbara Hierweck, GMP and Compliance Production Manager, at our Vienna site (Austria).

Annabelle

Single donation control (SDC) is the foundation of traceability of all our individual plasma donations at Octapharma. Annabelle works at our Lingolsheim site (France) and her main task it to control the plasma which enters in production

Barabara

“Sometimes you can become entirely absorbed in the laboratory or in your research, but we should never forget the real people we are helping” explains Dr Barbara Solecka-Witulska, Senior Scientist – Molecular Biochemistry, at Octapharma Berlin (Germany). The molecular biochemistry department investigate the functions of different proteins and help develop new products for patients.

Elisabet

Detecting viruses early by targeting DNA and RNA. PCR (polymerase chain reaction) methods detect viral nucleic acids directly, and therefore can identify recently infected donors who have not yet produced antibodies. Dr Elisabet Ekvärn, Head of PCR R&D and Support Plasma Quality in Stockholm (Sweden), explains the science behind this in her video.

Bernard

Performing analytical methods to test quality is the main task of the Quality Control Analytics department. “Our daily work is the testing of final containers, intermediates, in-process samples, and stability samples” says Bernhard, Senior Technician, at our Vienna site (Austria). Learn how this is done watching his story.

Knuth

Fractionation is the separation of plasma proteins by influencing their solubility. By changing the ethanol concentration, pH-value and temperature, different proteins are separated at different settings. Knuth Litke, Fractionation Manager, Springe (Germany).

Klaus

Getting the right material to production at the right time is key for Klaus, Storage Specialist, Springe (Germany). “The groundwork for production starts with us. It is our role to ensure that the production department gets the right material, of the right quality, in the right amount, at the right time”.

Werner

As part of the international regulatory framework in which Octapharma operates, the Cleaning Validation department contributes to patient safety by validating the cleaning methods of all equipment in production. Werner works in the Cleaning Validation department in Vienna (Austria) and explains how they ensure that cleaning methods reduce risk of cross contamination between production batches.

Mei

Octapharma uses recombinant technology to produce Factor VIII by inserting the gene which produces FVIII into a human cell line and cultivating the cells. Mei, who works at the Biopharmaceutical Production in Stockholm (Sweden),

Ali

The manufacture of our virus inactivated and prion-reduced pooled plasma is a 24-hour process; the product has to be made within a day to preserve the plasma proteins. Learn how this is done by watching the film of our process specialist in Stockholm (Sweden).

Sébastien

“Cold is ubiquitous in our manufacturing process, so the control and mastery of temperature at all steps of the process is essential to ensure product quality”, explains Sébastien, Maintenance Technician in Lingolsheim (France). He is responsible for the maintenance and optimisation of the cold chain throughout the production process.

Thomas

Purifying our products during the night shift at our site in in Stockholm (Sweden), Process Operator Thomas explains how: “In fine fractionation, we take the intermediates products we receive from basic fractionation and purify them into final products”.

Sara

Octapharma is investing in new state-of-the-art filling lines for our production sites. The aim is that fully automated lines will increase filling capacity, which ultimately means we can produce more products for patients.

The Filmmaker’s Journey

Simon created 15 films about Octapharma’s staff - interviewing the lead scientific experts and R&D professors to the warehouse workers and caretakers - all to show the care, effort, precision and passion that goes into making their life saving medicine.

Watch this video to find out how they were made.