GLENVIEW, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 15, 2026--
Asahi Kasei Bioprocess, a subsidiary of diversified global company Asahi Kasei, will unveil the VANTIJ® SU-VFC Benchtop at Bioprocess International East (BPI EAST) 2026. This new VANTIJ® SU-VFC is a small-format system designed to deliver automated, single-use virus filtration for laboratory-scale and process development applications. The system will be available on site at Booth 606.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260915583092/en/
The VANTIJ® SU-VFC Benchtop is the first benchtop-scale platform in Asahi Kasei Bioprocess’s VANTIJ® family. The system extends the automation, repeatability, and operator-focused design principles of the existing portfolio while simplifying virus filtration processes. Its compact design accommodates workflows using 0.12 m² or 0.3 m² Planova™ 35N virus-removal filters. The VANTIJ® simplifies small-scale Planova™ virus filtration while maintaining the process control and data-focused capabilities expected in modern biopharmaceutical development.
Initially designed for gene therapy manufacturing, the VANTIJ® SU-VFC Benchtop helps address the operational complexities associated with long production timelines, regulatory requirements, operator training, and therapy-specific needs. The system offers clear setup through a guided shadow-board layout, tool-free tube set installation and replacement, intuitive connection points, and recipe-driven software. It also enables batch reporting and supports the consistent execution of critical filtration processes.
"The biopharmaceutical industry continues to pursue more efficient pathways for bringing innovative therapies to patients," said Chris Rombach, President of Asahi Kasei Bioprocess America. "The VANTIJ® SU-VFC Benchtop reflects Asahi Kasei Bioprocess’s commitment to supporting manufacturers with solutions that simplify critical process steps while delivering the confidence and reliability associated with Planova™ virus filtration and the Asahi Kasei name."
The launch of the VANTIJ® SU-VFC Benchtop reflects Asahi Kasei's commitment to supporting the growth of cell and gene therapies, one of the biopharmaceutical industry's most rapidly evolving segments. As a strategic focus within the company's Healthcare sector, these emerging modalities are helping shape Asahi Kasei's Life Science growth strategy.
To experience the VANTIJ® SU-VFC Benchtop firsthand, BPI East attendees can visit Booth 606 in Boston, Massachusetts, from September 22nd to 25th.
About Asahi Kasei Bioprocess Fluid Management
The Fluid Management Business Unit of Asahi Kasei Bioprocess is devoted to solving therapeutic product safety, efficiency and purity challenges within the pharmaceutical and bioprocessing industries. With technology platforms for virus filtration, chromatography, inline buffer formulation and oligonucleotide synthesis, our bioprocessing systems, columns, and automation solutions advance GMP manufacturing of critical drug substances around the world. Built with pride, built with quality, built to exceed your high expectations. “Built for You.” For more information, please visit www.fluidmgmt.ak-bio.com.
About Asahi Kasei
Asahi Kasei is a diversified global company that contributes to life and living for people around the world. Since its foundation in 1922, with businesses in ammonia and cellulose fiber, Asahi Kasei has consistently grown through proactive portfolio transformation to meet the evolving needs of every age. With 50,000 employees worldwide, the company contributes to sustainability by providing solutions to the world’s challenges across its three business sectors: Healthcare, Homes, and Material. For more information, visit https://www.asahi-kasei.com/.
The VANTIJ® SU-VFC Benchtop by Asahi Kasei Bioprocess
A Houthi official said Tuesday that Saudi warplanes struck Yemen, killing three people, including two children, while Human Rights Watch accused the Houthi rebels of possible war crimes with its attacks on commercial vessels.
The renewed fighting in Yemen is endangering civilians and threatening shipping through the Red Sea, a route that has become more important due to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. launched its war against Iran.
The Associated Press could not independently verify the Houthi official's claim. The official did not say what the Saudi warplanes had targeted.
Here’s a look at the latest news in the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
Anees al Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run Health Ministry, said in a post on X on Tuesday that Saudi airstrikes killed three people, including two children, in Yemen's Taiz province. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify that claim.
Al-Asbahi said another two other people were injured in the strikes.
The escalation comes as the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have seized the strategic islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish in the southern Red Sea, bolstering their ability to control a key maritime shipping route.
Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas transits in peacetime — in the opening days of the war. The Saudis have since used the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which leads out of the Red Sea, for crude oil exports.
The Houthis’ latest seizures, which follow their capture of the Red Sea port of Mokha and a strategic island last week, puts more pressure on Saudi shipments and, in turn, global oil supplies and prices.
This could give Iran additional leverage in its war with the United States.
Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that at least three attacks by Houthi rebels against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden between Jul. 20 and Aug. 24 could amount to war crimes.
The Houthi attacks against Saudi-linked shipping started in mid-July in the latest flare-up of violence in the Yemen civil war.
Niku Jafarnia, a Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that irrespective of any politics involved, “attacks on civilian crews carried out deliberately or recklessly are war crimes.”
The Houthis say their attacks on Saudi-linked shipping are retaliation for the Saudi-led coalition blockade on the Houthi-held areas in Yemen, a measure related to Yemen's decade-old civil war.
The human rights organization said the Houthis claimed to have attacked at least nine vessels over the span of a month, including two Saudi-flagged vessels, a Tanzania-flagged vessel, and a Dominica-flagged vessel.
The rights group urged the Houthis to “immediately and unconditionally end all unlawful attacks on civilian ships.”
China's Foreign Ministry said Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit the country on Wednesday and meet with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
A fisherman carries his catch, including hammerhead sharks, ashore at the Sirah fish market in Aden, Yemen, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
A man counts Yemeni currency at a gas station in Aden, Yemen, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
Displaced Yemenis are seen at Al-Firdaws camp in Ras Imran, just outside Aden, Yemen, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
Displaced Yemenis sit at their tent at Al-Firdaws camp in Ras Imran, just outside Aden, Yemen, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
A displaced Yemeni carries a carpet at Al-Firdaws camp in Ras Imran, just outside Aden, Yemen, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
Displaced Yemenis chat at Al-Firdaws camp in Ras Imran, just outside Aden, Yemen, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
A doctor examines a displaced child at Al-Firdaws camp in Ras Imran, just outside Aden, Yemen, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
