i3 Membrane, a leader in advanced bioprocessing solutions, is proud to announce its triple win at the 2025 Pharmaceutical Technology Excellence Awards, securing top honors in the Innovation, Research & Development, and Environmental categories. These prestigious awards, powered by GlobalData’s business intelligence, recognize i3 Membrane’s outstanding achievements in transforming biomolecule purification and advancing sustainable pharmaceutical manufacturing.
The Pharmaceutical Technology Excellence Awards is one of the largest and most respected independent recognition programs in the industry, leveraging the expertise of researchers, journalists, and artificial intelligence to analyze over 1 billion datasets annually. The program celebrates forward-thinking companies that drive positive change across more than 200 countries, with a focus on excellence in multiple areas.
Award-Winning Innovation: Digital Membrane Chromatography (DMC)
i3 Membrane received the Innovation award for its development of Digital Membrane Chromatography (DMC), a pioneering technology that fundamentally changes the approach to biomolecule purification. Unlike traditional methods that rely on chemical gradients and lengthy processes, DMC uses electrical fields to enable rapid, gentle elution of biomolecules—reducing purification times from up to eight hours to just 30 minutes. This breakthrough not only increases throughput but also preserves the structural integrity and efficacy of sensitive therapeutic proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies.
Excellence in Research & Development
The company was also recognized in the Research & Development category for its commitment to scaling DMC technology for commercial therapeutic drug manufacturing. Through extensive partnerships with contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs), academia, and leading pharmaceutical manufacturers, i3 Membrane has demonstrated DMC’s superior performance, achieving recovery rates of over 95% and enabling multiple purification cycles without the need for chemical cleaning. These advancements streamline operations, maximize yield, and support the evolving needs of pharmaceutical research and production.
Environmental Leadership in Bioprocessing
i3 Membrane’s third award, in the Environmental category, highlights the company’s dedication to sustainable manufacturing. DMC technology significantly reduces chemical waste and resource consumption by eliminating harsh elution buffers and minimizing the need for cleaning chemicals. The use of an inert, gold-based conductive layer further enhances environmental safety, while the system’s operational efficiency lowers energy usage and processing costs. These features position DMC as a benchmark for green bioprocessing in the pharmaceutical industry.
“We are honored to receive this prestigious award from Pharmaceutical Technology. Digital Membrane Chromatography will provide a step change in the way mAbs and gene therapies are discovered, quality assured, and manufactured. The technology was introduced to industry and academia simultaneously without us knowing where the trail would lead, but we learned quickly that applications are very dispersed for the DMC platform, and there is a compelling need for it,” said Dr. Stephane Brinke-Seiferth, CEO, i3 Membrane GmbH.
“Great thanks to Pharmaceutical Technology. The journey has hardly begun for DMC, and yet the velocity and return on invested capital is remarkable and additive to our other revenue streams. We are delivering biomolecular species intact, practically immediately. Some people like the resultant purity and QTC attributes of the molecules, whilst others enjoy the simplicity of use. Very exciting times are ahead for therapeutic discovery and manufacturing,” said Kenneth J. Renfrew. FRSB. i3 Membrane Corporation.