Interphex 2026 awards honor technologies focused on flexibility, automated workflows and ease of use

Interphex 2026 featured over 600 exhibitors at the Javits Center in New York City, taking place April 21 through 23. At the show, six technologies were awarded Interphex Exhibitor awards across various categories. 

The Interphex Exhibitor Awards recognize leading vendors at the show each year for innovative, state-of-the-art technologies. The submissions are reviewed by a board of professionals from the show’s media partners, American Pharmaceutical Review, Pharmaceutical Outsourcing and Interphex staff. 

Best in show: the Nespresso for bioproduction

Nucleus Biologics demonstrated its Krakatoa K500, a pod-based system that can produce up to 500 liters of GMP-grade media at the point of use. The product was awarded Best in Show for eliminating the need to handle bulk liquid shipments in early-stage bioprocessing. 

The Krakatoa K500 allows users to generate media and buffers using single-use, pre-packed pods reminiscent of a Nespresso coffee machine. Each pod contains a pre-formulated powdered media or buffer; once the pod is loaded and single-use tubing is connected, the instrument scans an integrated QR code and automates powder hydration, mixing, sterile filtration and final dispensing in a closed environment.

“We believe this product can shift the cost model and create a new paradigm for how bioprocessing liquids are delivered to the bioreactor,” said David Sheehan, founder, president and CEO of Nucleus Biologics. “With the Krakatoa K500, we begin a journey to co-locate both media and buffer bioproduction and ultimately intelligence-based improvement of bioprocessing liquids to achieve better yields.”

The Kroakatoa K500 requires less than 15 minutes of hands-on time and produces up to 500 liters in less than three hours, with two standard pod sizes to provide flexibility for specific process needs. Each run is initiated through a QR-code-driven workflow that integrates automated processing, standardized formulations, continuous inline monitoring and automated digital batch record generation. This closed, single-use system supports consistent performance, real-time analytics and full traceability, enabling GMP-compliant operation with audit-ready documentation.

Best new product: a portable, cable-free tube welder

Ensorcell’s Versaweld, a portable, battery-powered sterile tube welder, won Best New Product for its portable design and flexibility. The welder weighs about nine pounds and measures about 12 inches long, allowing operators to perform welds wherever they are needed, addressing a key limitation of conventional tube welders, which are often heavy, tethered to power sources and restricted by adapters when switching tube sizes or materials. The battery stores enough power for a cassette’s worth of welds on a single charge and enables mobility for use across multiple workstations, the company said. 

The platform performs approximately 30-second sterile welds—dry-to-dry, dry-to-wet, and wet-to-wet—without disposable blades. Instead, it uses a specialized stainless steel ribbon housed in a patent-pending cassette that supports up to 120 continuous welds. The auto-feeding ribbon reduces sharp waste and eliminates the risks associated with handling and disposing of blades.

“The Versaweld sterile tube welder is the culmination of years of focused innovation,” said Andria Balogh, head of Products and Marketing at Ensorcell. “We built this platform to give engineers and operators a system that performs at the highest level, while being easy to use and affordable. At a value of just $15,000 for the Versaweld tube welder instrument, we are fulfilling our mission to provide outstanding innovation at an exceptional price.”

Editor’s choice: far-UVC at 222 nm enables operation in occupied spaces

UV Medico’s Far-UVC UV222 Dual Downlight 60×60 was awarded the Editor’s Choice award for integrating continuous microbial reduction into a standard cleanroom lighting form factor. 

Traditional UV-C at 254 nm is widely used, but it affects skin and eyes, limiting use to unoccupied spaces. Far-UVC at 222 nm still inactivates microorganisms effectively, but behaves differently in human tissue, allowing it to be used in occupied environments within exposure limits. 

The UV222 Dual Downlight uses filtered Far-UVC light from krypton-chloride excimer lamps at 222 nm, a wavelength shown to inactivate bacteria, viruses and spores while being absorbed in the outer non-living layer of skin and the tear layer of the eye, allowing operation within accepted exposure limits.

Integrated into a 60×60 cm cleanroom luminaire, the fixture maintains required lighting levels and cleanroom integrity while continuously irradiating air and exposed surfaces. Its design allows for the replacement of existing fixtures without structural modifications. Reported installations in pharmaceutical pilot facilities demonstrate reductions in airborne microbial counts exceeding 93% in Grade B and C environments and lower surface bioburden on frequently touched areas.

Best tech innovation: reengineering tangential flow filtration

Alphinity’s TFFi platform with PIXER Pump was recognized with the Best Tech Innovation award for reengineering tangential flow filtration around the needs of shear-sensitive biologics. TFFi is a precision, single-use TFF platform built around the PIXER positive displacement diaphragm pump. 

PIXER uses a flexing diaphragm, eliminating roller–tubing interfaces and significantly reducing shear. In a third-party MilliporeSigma study, PIXER outperformed an established low-shear benchmark pump, delivering 4.4 times better product filterability even at 16 times the linear velocity. PIXER also offers ±0.1 PSI pressure stability across its operating range, about 30 times tighter than the nearest competitor’s published specification.

TFFi combines this pump with ConSynSys automation, implementing ISA‑88 batch recipe execution, enabling fully automated workflows from equilibration through collection with automated valve sequencing and unattended operation. A minimum working volume of 30 mL, enabled by a system hold-up of 24.8 mL, allows early-stage samples to be processed effectively. The same platform covers 30 mL to 10 L, avoiding the need for multiple systems and re-optimization as programs scale. Single-use flowpaths based on poka-yoke principles, modular pre-assembled sub-kits and color-coding minimize the risk of incorrect installation. 

Interphex efficiency champion: Lego block tubing assemblies

Eldon James Corp’s BioKlik assemblies received the Interphex Efficiency Champion award for “redefining how single-use tubing assemblies are built and deployed in biopharmaceutical production”. BioKlik is a ready-to-use tubing solution that converts what is normally a complex, time-intensive build into a process that takes minutes. Using patented “connection innovation” technology, BioKlik components feature ultra-low-profile, ergonomic and leak-free quick-connect couplings that can be assembled or reconfigured quickly without compromising sterility, according to the company.

At the heart of the platform is the integrated SeriesLock Xgen multi-connect coupler, designed to make up to ten reconnections without compromising sterile integrity, as demonstrated in bacterial ingress studies. By enabling repeated connections, SeriesLock Xgen reduces dependence on disposable connectors and supports a more circular, sustainability-oriented approach in cleanrooms. The SeriesLock spring-free flow path sterile quick-disconnect coupler further increases flow capacity, allows disconnection while maintaining a sterile flow path and permits one subsequent reconnection.

BioKlik assemblies are positioned as the “LEGO blocks” of biopharma fluid management: modular, customizable and easy to assemble. Key benefits include innovation in connection technology, flexibility and scalability across processes, reduced risk of errors, shorter configuration and troubleshooting time and improved cost efficiency. By enabling rapid configuration changes in process development and ensuring consistent performance in manufacturing, BioKlik assemblies help safeguard product integrity, trim operational expense and support a greener, more resilient biomanufacturing ecosystem.

Biotech innovation award: rigid cryogenic containment

BioLife’s CellSeal CryoCase received the biotech innovation award for introducing a rigid, cryogenic-compatible containment system designed to protect frozen cell and gene therapy drug products across cryopreservation, storage, transport and thaw. The product was designed to address the limitations of flexible cryobags, which can suffer from stress fractures, seal stress and accidental damage, leading to therapy loss, delays and high costs. 

CryoCase surrounds the frozen product with rigid external protection engineered specifically for cryogenic environments, reducing mechanical stress. The design supports reduced risk of container breakage, improved inspection visibility for sterility and quality review and true closed-system automation.

“We’re pleased to receive this recognition from INTERPHEX, one of the industry’s leading forums for pharmaceutical and biotechnology innovation,” said Roderick de Greef, CEO of BioLife Solutions. “This award is meaningful validation that CryoCase addresses a real need in the market. We specifically built it to address containment challenges the industry is currently facing.”