Bio-Rad Released Prepacked Chromatography Columns
The company has expanded its Foresight Pro line, offering process-scale columns to streamline purification workflows.
Updated on Sept. 29, 2026 in Biotech
Bio-Rad Laboratories has released an expanded range of prepacked Foresight Pro chromatography columns. These columns are manufactured in an ISO Class 7 cleanroom to ensure rigorous quality standards for process-scale biopharmaceutical applications.
Why it matters
Prepacked columns provide a cost-effective and flexible alternative to traditional customer-packed solutions. By standardizing the purification media in a pre-validated format, companies can accelerate development timelines for complex bioprocesses.
The current columns feature internal diameters ranging from 5 to 13 cm and are available in bed heights of 10 and 20 cm. They utilize Nuvia bead technology, which employs a polyacrylamide base designed to minimize non-specific binding.
The players
Bio-Rad Laboratories
A global life science research and clinical diagnostics company specializing in separation technologies and protein analysis equipment.
The details
The Foresight Pro columns utilize Nuvia chromatography resins, including AEX (anion exchange), CEX (cation exchange), and mixed-mode types, to facilitate protein separation. These resins are built on a polyacrylamide base bead, a synthetic gel structure, engineered to leverage hydrophilic polymer properties that reduce non-specific binding—where unintended molecules stick to the resin, causing impurity issues. The entire manufacturing process takes place in an ISO Class 7 cleanroom, an environment controlled for airborne particles to maintain pharmaceutical sterility standards.
Timeline
September 29, 2026: Official release of the expanded Foresight Pro chromatography column range.
Early 2027: Planned release of larger column models with internal diameters between 20 and 45 cm.
The Tech Race
This release tracks the industry shift toward standardized, pre-validated purification hardware to replace manual, labor-intensive packing processes. It builds on the deployment of Nuvia chromatography resins by integrating them into ready-to-use columns that meet stringent manufacturing standards.
Bioprocessing teams can immediately transition to the current 5 to 13 cm column sizes to simplify their purification workflows. Organizations requiring larger scale capacity for high-volume production should look for additional hardware updates in early 2027.
The takeaway
These prepacked columns reduce the technical burden of in-house column preparation while maintaining high-purity standards. Researchers should track the release of the 20 to 45 cm diameter models in early 2027 to assess the feasibility of scaling current processes to larger volumes.
What happens next
Larger process-scale columns featuring internal diameters of 20 to 45 cm are scheduled for release in early 2027.
Further reading
For more developments in purification technology, visit the Biotech section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Labcompare.
