Bio-Rad Expands Foresight Pro Chromatography Columns for Biomanufacturing

Bio-Rad Laboratories has expanded its Foresight Pro prepacked chromatography column range with a new selection of columns incorporating its Nuvia ion exchange and mixed-mode chromatography resins.

The expanded portfolio is designed to support process-scale downstream chromatography applications across biological drug development and manufacturing, providing biopharmaceutical manufacturers with prepacked column options for the purification of biomolecules.

The launch adds columns packed with anion exchange (AEX), cation exchange (CEX) and mixed-mode resins to the existing Foresight Pro portfolio, which includes columns packed with Bio-Rad’s CHT Ceramic Hydroxyapatite media.

Expanding downstream purification options

The new Foresight Pro columns are available with several Nuvia chromatography resins, including Nuvia Q Media and Nuvia HP-Q Media for anion exchange, Nuvia HR-S Media for cation exchange, and the mixed-mode Nuvia cPrime Media and Nuvia aPrime 4A Media.

The cPrime resin combines cation exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography (CEX-HIC), while aPrime 4A combines anion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography (AEX-HIC).

The columns are currently available with internal diameters ranging from 5 to 13 cm, with bed heights of 10 and 20 cm. Bio-Rad said larger columns with internal diameters of 20 to 45 cm are in development, with availability anticipated in early 2027.

The expanded range is intended to give manufacturers greater flexibility when selecting chromatography technologies for different stages of biological drug development, from process development and pilot-scale production through to commercial manufacturing.

Designed for process-scale chromatography

The columns use Bio-Rad’s Nuvia bead technology, which is based on a polyacrylamide polymer bead designed for purification applications across laboratory, process development and manufacturing environments.

According to Bio-Rad, the hydrophilic nature of the beads helps minimise non-specific binding, while the technology is designed to maintain dynamic binding capacity across a broad range of flow rates.

The beads are also engineered to provide rapid mass transfer alongside chemical and mechanical stability across a range of processing conditions.

These characteristics are particularly relevant to downstream processing, where chromatography is widely used to separate and purify biological molecules following upstream production.

Prepacked columns target manufacturing efficiency

Bio-Rad said the Foresight Pro columns are manufactured in a controlled ISO Class 7 cleanroom, providing GMP-ready columns for biomanufacturing applications.

The prepacked format is intended to provide an alternative to customer-packed columns, with a standardised design and range of column diameters and bed volumes.

One feature Bio-Rad highlighted is that each column is packed using media from a single production lot, rather than blending multiple resin batches during the packing process.

“This single-lot approach is what makes our Foresight Pro Columns a genuinely unique, single-source offering,” said Diab Elmashni, Director of Process Chromatography Business at Bio-Rad Laboratories.

The company said the approach is intended to provide biopharmaceutical customers with greater consistency while also simplifying technical, application and product support.

Supporting the scale-up of biopharmaceutical processes

The expansion comes as biopharmaceutical developers increasingly need downstream purification technologies that can transition efficiently from development-scale processes into larger-scale manufacturing.

By combining prepacked process-scale hardware with a broader selection of ion exchange and mixed-mode resins, Bio-Rad is positioning the Foresight Pro range as a flexible platform for chromatography across the biomanufacturing workflow.

The company originally launched Foresight Pro columns packed with CHT Ceramic Hydroxyapatite Media in 2022. Bio-Rad said the latest expansion follows customer demand for prepacked columns incorporating additional chromatography resins.

The new Nuvia-based columns therefore extend the platform beyond hydroxyapatite chromatography, giving manufacturers additional options for the downstream purification of biological products.