Yokogawa, based in Tokyo, acquired all shares of Insilico Biotechnology , a Stuttgart, Germany-based developer and provider of bioprocess software and services. Yokogawa officials say the deal was made to leverage this acquisition to build total bioprocess solutions that support biopharmaceutical development through to manufacturing.

Insilico’s digital twin technology uses a hybrid model formed from a mechanistic model of the characteristics of an intracellular metabolic network and a data-driven model constructed from process data using the machine learning process. As well as drastically accelerating what until now has been a multiple-year development process, prediction and simulation also enable the acquisition of a deep understanding of the metabolism process, notes Hiroshi Nakao, a Yokogawa vice president and head of the company’s life business headquarters.

Given that this solution enables the construction of metabolism models for bacteria and many other kinds of cellular organisms, it can also be used in a wide variety of applications related to foods, chemicals, and other products that utilize biotechnology, adds Nakao.

Insilico’s digital twin technology enables the real-time analysis of process data, which allows for the constant prediction of cultivation performance, the soft sensing of nutritional components that cannot be measured directly, and the early detection of process abnormalities and provision of guidance to operators. By deploying this problem-solving technology, product quality can be stabilized, which contributes to efficient mass production, according to Klaus Mauch, CEO of Insilico Biotechnology.

“There are high expectations for this fusion between our cutting-edge digital twin software technology for bioprocesses and Yokogawa’s pharmaceutical production system solutions. I believe that through Yokogawa’s global network we will be able to expand our sales channels and make a great contribution to the biopharmaceuticals industry,” he says.