Claros reports TFA-treatment pilot at Bachem’s Bubendorf site
Claros Technologies said on September 22 that it had completed a two-week pilot treating trifluoroacetic acid, or TFA, in wastewater at Bachem’s Bubendorf site in Switzerland.
The supplier described the trial as operating under real manufacturing conditions and said it met or exceeded Bachem’s TFA-destruction performance metrics. It did not publish the site-specific removal figures, residual concentrations or treatment costs.
The process uses ultraviolet light to destroy PFAS compounds. Claros said the operating data would inform the engineering and design of a commercial system. That places the disclosed milestone at pilot validation rather than operation of a permanent commercial installation.
For peptide manufacturing, the relevant development is treatment of the waste stream associated with the use of TFA. The announcement provides no evidence of reduced reagent consumption, a change in Bachem’s synthesis chemistry or additional peptide API output. Commercial deployment and its operating economics remain open questions.