Together for a sustainable future: Bürkert Fluid Control Systems and Green Elephant Biotech

Family business Bürkert Fluid Control Systems invests in startup Green Elephant Biotech, (l. to r.) Dr. Joel Eichmann (Managing Director and Founder of Green Elephant Biotech), Hendrik Faustmann (New Business Model Development, Bürkert), Georg Stawowy (CEO Bürkert), Caspar von Schoeler (Corporate Development, Bürkert), Roman Gaida (CSO Bürkert), Felix Wollenhaupt (Managing Director and Founder of Green Elephant Biotech) (Source: Bürkert Fluid Control Systems)

Family business Bürkert Fluid Control Systems invests in startup Green Elephant Biotech, (l. to r.) Felix Wollenhaupt (Managing Director and Founder of Green Elephant Biotech), Dr. Joel Eichmann (Managing Director and Founder of Green Elephant Biotech), Georg Stawowy (CEO Bürkert) (Source: Bürkert Fluid Control Systems)

The innovative internal structure of the CellScrew® offers a large growth surface for cell cultures in the smallest space and enables optimal growth conditions with low shear forces and excellent gas exchange. (Source: Green Elephant Biotech)

Bürkert Fluid Control Systems has invested as a strategic partner in Green Elephant Biotech to jointly develop more efficient, flexible, and sustainable cell culture processes in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. This partnership aims to enable more cost-effective production of therapeutics and facilitate access to current biopharmaceutical trends.

As part of a strategic partnership, Bürkert Fluid Control Systems has invested in the Gießen-based startup Green Elephant Biotech. Together with Bürkert, the startup aims to make cell culture processes in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry more efficient, flexible, and sustainable, so that, for example, life-saving therapeutics can be produced more affordably. Through the partnership, Bürkert gains access to current trends and developments in the biopharmaceutical industry, one of the strategic core markets of the fluidics specialist from Ingelfingen. "We see great potential in Green Elephant Biotech's innovative cell culture systems to revolutionize production processes in the industry. This aligns with our corporate vision to bring solutions for a regenerative economy to market," says Bürkert CEO Georg Stawowy.

Green Elephant Biotech was founded in 2021 by Dr. Joel Eichmann and Felix Wollenhaupt at the Technical University of Central Hessen in Gießen. Compared to traditional cell culture vessels, the innovative and patented CellScrew® system allows for significantly increased growth surface area for adherent cell cultures at the same volume. Additionally, the CellScrew® is additively manufactured from polylactic acid (PLA) using 3D printing.

Founder Felix Wollenhaupt explains: "Traditional cell culture vessels are much larger, are single-use items, are discarded after one use, and are often burned for regulatory reasons. This results in a lot of CO2 emissions. Our CellScrew® is made from less raw material, which means it inherently produces less waste. Furthermore, we use PLA, a biopolymer derived from plants. As a result, the CO2 footprint is reduced by about 90% compared to conventional systems."

Through collaboration with Bürkert as a strong, strategic partner, the founders have access to resources for further developing their company. Joel Eichmann adds: "Together with Bürkert, we want to turn the CellScrew® into a full-fledged bioreactor. This involves exchanging fluids, controlling gases, and regulating processes. Bürkert brings the technical components and expertise to integrate this into a system. Together, we aim to develop a cost-effective, process-safe, and sustainable production platform for the pharmaceutical industry, especially for personalized medicine."

The startup's vision is linked to the concept of green transformation, which is also reflected in the metaphor of the Green Elephant. Supporting large companies in the green transition requires new ways of thinking, courageous entrepreneurs, and family businesses willing to contribute to a regenerative economy.