Bioprocess and Lab Filtration Solutions | Sterile, Viral, TFF and More

Filtration that blocks contaminants, not breakthroughs

Filtration solutions for lab research, bioprocess development, and clinical manufacturing.

Earned expertise: Filtration you can count on

Filtration should protect progress and support productivity—not create friction.

For decades, our Whatman™ and Pall™ filter portfolios have purified samples and protected processes throughout research, process development and clinical manufacturing for more than 80 years. Our tested and trusted filtration solutions stand up to scale, scrutiny, and real‑world manufacturing demands today, to support your sustained success tomorrow.

Rely on our filtration expertise and support to keep your workflow in forward motion, always.

Filtration that supports and safeguards your science

Thoughtful filter selection plays a critical role in workflow performance and should be prioritized early to avoid delays down the line.

Selecting the wrong filter or choosing a filter with the wrong specifications can create unseen challenges that silently ripple through your workflow, before leading to unreliable results, including:

Slow QC release
Batch quality issues
Complete batch loss
Extended development timelines

With trusted membrane chemistries and proven solutions, you can manage fouling, support complex modalities, and safeguard product purity with confidence.

Bioprocess filtration product guide

Laboratory filtration product guide

Filtration that maintains momentum across modalities

Filtration performance plays a critical role in speed, scale, yield, and risk. Our filtration products, expertise, and support help you maintain momentum and confidence from early processing through final fill‑finish.

Research and Process Development

Move faster from lab insight to clinical readiness with filtration solutions that scale seamlessly from benchtop to cleanroom so you’re always generating reliable data without rework.

Analytical and Quality Control

Ready for more reliable results? Our filtration solutions support standard analytical and QC methods, helping protect data integrity so we can help you make more confident, data‑backed decisions.

Bioprocessing

Bring greater control to scaled manufacturing with filtration solutions designed to manage risk, protect yield, and perform reliably even in the most demanding bioprocessing operations.

Filtration for every workflow and application

Harvest depth filtration

Enable fast, consistent harvest clarification with filtration that efficiently removes cells and debris—protecting yield for downstream success.

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Sterile filtration

Fast Trak™ validation services support your qualification process with testing and documentation for sterilizing‑grade filters assemblies for single-use systems.

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Food and beverage

Our filtration solutions bring efficiency and accuracy to brewing, dairy, honey and other food and beverage laboratory filtration applications.

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Viral filtration

Achieve dependable viral clearance with viral filtration solutions built for robust, repeatable, regulatory-ready performance in antibody and plasma processes.

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Vent and gas filtration

From bioreactors to drug products: maintain control of microbial contamination and sterility in laboratory and manufacturing processes.

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Environmental testing filtration

Our products help you perform environmental testing in accordance with standards and guidelines set out by the EPA and international agencies.

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Tangential flow filtration (UF/DF)

Deliver reliable UF/DF performance for concentration and buffer exchange, designed to support smooth scale‑up and manufacturing readiness.

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Microbiology filtration

Sometimes the most routine tests matter the most. Our membrane filtration solutions maximize recovery, testing efficiency, and contamination control.

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Dissolution testing filtration

Filtration removes any undissolved solids from the solution, halting the dissolution process, and protecting analytical instrumentation from contamination.

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Filtration built for flexibility

Stay agile as demands shift with our single-use filtration assemblies and automated systems. Pair these with a quality filter choice and you’re future proofing your process by building a flexible platform that evolves with your changing needs.

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Let’s figure out your filtration, together

Finding the right filters for your process is essential; but that doesn’t always mean it’s easy. Ask a question. Outline a challenge. Or simply start a conversation.

We’ll connect you with someone who understands your workflow and what it takes to advance it.

Frequently asked questions about filtration

How do I get help to select the best filter for my application?

With so many different applications and filter choices, it isn’t always easy to know what to do. But, we have teams of people waiting to help with everything from product selection to filter testing, training, troubleshooting and even validation. Use the contact form at the bottom of this page and we’ll put you in touch with someone close.

What is filtration?

Filtration refers to the process of separating components in a fluid stream, typically by exploiting differences in size. The technology is often applied to remove contaminants from a product or from test samples when those contaminants are significantly larger than those components that are being purified. Their retention capability ranges from centimeters in large scale industrial applications, through micrometers in fine particulates and bacterial controls to nanometers for the removal of small contaminants such as viruses and small molecules. In some specialized applications it may also be used to retain larger, wanted components and to transmit smaller contaminants or solutes to purify or concentrate a feedstock.

Where are filters used in life science?

Filters can be found in many laboratory applications and throughout a range or drug product manufacturing workflows.

QC: Many standard methods use filters to purify or capture analytes. These include microbiological testing, dissolution testing and a range of environmental test methods.
Research: Commonly used to purify test samples to increase test accuracy and protect analytical equipment
Drug manufacturing
Clarification filters are common in cell harvest applications.
Bioburden control filters are applied liberally through the process as part of a contamination control strategy.
Virus filters are used to control virus contamination in the manufacture of biologic drugs.
Air and liquid sterilizing grade filters can be found in critical applications such as cell culture and final filling.

What is the purpose of sterile filtration?

Sterile filtration removes microorganisms from a fluid stream and, when specified correctly, does so without altering the product of interest. When combined with other contamination control strategies it can be used to support aseptic processing and the production of sterile final drug products. It’s typically used when heat based terminal sterilization isn’t an option, such as with biologics, but it is routinely used throughout the QC and drug development process to control critical contaminants in cell culture media and process buffers.

What does a 0.2‑micron filter remove?

A 0.2 µm membrane rating is commonly applied to those filters with the ability to retain small bacteria. When the performance is suitably validated, these filters may also be classified as sterilizing-grade filters. For critical applications, care should be taken to investigate this performance and not rely upon a simple 0.22 µm rating alone. When properly selected, such filters should remove all microbial contaminants while allowing proteins, buffers, and cell culture media to pass unaffected. Most filters are not designed to remove viruses, which require dedicated viral filtration technologies however, in dry gas applications, some 0.2 µm rated filters do provide significant virus reduction.

What’s the difference between direct flow filtration and tangential flow filtration?

Direct flow filtration processes fluid perpendicularly through a membrane until it reaches capacity, making it ideal for clarification or sterile filtration. Tangential flow filtration uses a combination of fluid flow including a higher proportion across the membrane surface to reduce fouling while retaining large particles or molecules and transmitting smaller species. This makes them ideal for the concentration of dilute biologics and buffer exchange (diafiltration) in higher‑demand workflows.

What are the main types of membrane filtration?

Microfiltration, ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration, target the retention or removal of different contaminants based upon their size. They support the purification, clarification, concentration, desalting and diafiltration, of test samples and process fluids across lab and bioprocess applications. Choosing the right membrane depends on what you need to remove, your molecule, the feed characteristics, and your required retention performance.

How can I prevent filter fouling?

Fouling or blockage is influenced by feed composition and the filter construction. Some filters are more able to cope with an increased level of solids and a wider range of contaminant sizes than others. The addition of prefiltration can reduce the burden of the final filter and for many filters can be integrated into the filter construction. The right filter selection and sizing, coupled with close process controls help reduce blockages and maintain throughput under real‑world conditions.

When should I use single‑use filtration systems?

Single‑use filters, integrated into single-use flow paths are valuable when cleaning steps slow you down, product changeovers are frequent, or cross‑contamination risks need to be avoided. They provide a flexible way to handle variable workloads and can be integrated into automated systems for high levels of process control. 

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Earned expertise: Filtration you can count on

Filtration that supports and safeguards your science

Filtration that maintains momentum across modalities

Research and Process Development

Analytical and Quality Control

Bioprocessing

Filtration for every workflow and application

Harvest depth filtration

Sterile filtration

Food and beverage

Viral filtration

Vent and gas filtration

Environmental testing filtration

Tangential flow filtration (UF/DF)

Microbiology filtration

Dissolution testing filtration

Filtration built for flexibility

Let’s figure out your filtration, together

Related content

Simulating PUPSIT or gas purges in bacterial challenge tests

How to prevent laboratory filter blocking

Frequently asked questions about filtration

How do I get help to select the best filter for my application?

What is filtration?

Where are filters used in life science?

What is the purpose of sterile filtration?

What does a 0.2‑micron filter remove?

What’s the difference between direct flow filtration and tangential flow filtration?

What are the main types of membrane filtration?

How can I prevent filter fouling?

When should I use single‑use filtration systems?

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