Federal Equipment Company buys and sells used biotechnology equipment from Cleveland, OH, including single-use and stainless steel bioreactors, fermenters, chromatography systems, TFF systems, disc stack centrifuges, and incubators. Most of it is kept in more than 1 million sq ft of storage in Cleveland, where buyers can inspect it before purchase.
Biotech Equipment for Cell Culture, Fermentation, and Biologics
Biotechnology manufacturing uses living cells to make its product, and in cell therapy the cells are the product. Living cells shape the equipment, from the vessels that grow them to the separators, columns, and filters downstream.
The companies we buy from and sell to make monoclonal antibodies and other recombinant proteins in mammalian cell culture, specialty ingredients and biochemicals by microbial fermentation, vaccines, and cell and gene therapies. Their equipment runs from benchtop bioreactors in process development labs to 2,000-liter single-use systems and larger stainless steel fermenters in production.
Neighboring work has its own pages. Small-molecule drugs, from API reactors to tablet presses, are on our used pharmaceutical equipment page. Analytical instruments are listed under lab equipment. Brewing fermenters are on our beverage and bottling equipment page, and our fermentation equipment page follows a microbial fermentation line from media preparation to the dried product.
We are a third-generation family business and have bought and sold used process and packaging equipment since 1957. We buy surplus bioprocess equipment outright or on consignment when a biotech company closes a site, consolidates, or ends a program, and we run investment recovery programs for biopharma companies with surplus at several sites.
Where the equipment comes from
It reaches us from three kinds of seller.
Biotech and biopharma companies
Biotech and biopharma companies release equipment when a clinical program stops, a site shuts, or production moves to another plant.
Contract manufacturers
Contract development and manufacturing organizations release it when client programs end or a suite is refitted, and they buy for the next program.
Fermentation plants
Plants that make food ingredients and botanical compounds by fermentation release fermenters, separators, and filter presses when they close.
Several biotech companies both sell to us and buy from us, clearing surplus at one site while equipping another.
Bioprocess train
Bioprocessing Equipment, Upstream to Downstream
The six stages below follow the usual train for protein biologics such as antibodies and recombinant proteins. Cells grow upstream, the product is separated from them at harvest, and downstream steps purify and concentrate it before it is filled. Vaccines, fermentation products, and cell therapies vary from that train.
01
Stage 1: Media and buffer preparation
Powdered media and buffer salts are weighed, dissolved, and usually sterile filtered into jacketed stainless steel tanks or single-use mixers. Purification consumes large volumes of buffer, so buffer prep often needs mixing and hold capacity of its own.
02
Stage 2: Cell culture and fermentation
Cells are expanded from a frozen vial through shake flasks in incubator shakers, then rocking or small stirred bioreactors, before they inoculate the production vessel. Mammalian cell culture runs for days to weeks under gentle mixing, while microbial fermentation runs faster and needs far more oxygen and cooling.
03
Stage 3: Harvest and clarification
For a secreted protein, harvest removes cells and debris from the culture fluid with disc stack centrifuges, depth filters, or both. When a microbial product stays inside the cell, a high-pressure homogenizer breaks the cells open first. In a cell therapy the cells are the product, so harvest washes, concentrates, and formulates them instead.
04
Stage 4: Purification and concentration
Chromatography skids run the clarified fluid through packed columns, often in two or three steps, to capture the product and strip out impurities. Tangential flow filtration concentrates the product and exchanges its buffer between and after those steps, and most mammalian cell products also pass through a virus filter.
05
Stage 5: Formulation, fill-finish, and lyophilization
The purified drug substance is formulated, usually sterile filtered, and filled into vials or syringes, and many biologics are then freeze dried in a lyophilizer. That stage runs under aseptic conditions and is covered on our aseptic processing equipment page.
06
Stage 6: Quality control and release testing
Each batch is tested for identity, purity, potency, and, for sterile products, sterility before release. Analytical instruments often leave a closing biotech site along with the process equipment.
Behind every stage sit purified water and water for injection systems, clean steam, clean-in-place skids, and cold storage. We carry these as supporting equipment, and the compressors, chillers, and boilers behind them are on our plant utility equipment page.
Bioprocess equipment goes by several names, and a listing may use any of them. These six distinctions help when you search.
Bioreactors and fermenters
Most are stirred, aerated tanks that control temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen, though cell culture also runs in rocking and other single-use formats. A fermenter usually grows bacteria, yeast, or fungi, which need strong agitation, heavy aeration, and plenty of cooling. A bioreactor usually grows mammalian or insect cells, which are fragile and need gentle, low-shear mixing. The bioreactors and fermenters we have handled run from 2-liter benchtop units to 3,000-liter stainless steel production vessels.
Single-use or stainless steel
A single-use system holds its product in a presterilized plastic bag inside a reusable steel or aluminum support. It needs less cleaning, steam, and changeover time between batches. The bioreactors of this type we see run from 10 to 2,000 liters, and the mixers from 50 to 5,000 liters. Stainless steel vessels suit long campaigns and larger volumes, but they need clean-in-place and steam-in-place utilities.
Chromatography systems and columns
A chromatography system, often called a skid, pumps buffer and product through a packed column and switches valves on a programmed method. The column is a separate item, sized by its inner diameter, and the resin inside it is bought separately again. Benchtop systems develop the method, and pilot and process skids carry it to production. Process skids such as ÄKTAprocess and ÄKTA ready are listed under chromatography instruments, and further systems and columns under chromatography equipment.
TFF, UF/DF, and crossflow filtration
Tangential flow filtration, ultrafiltration and diafiltration (UF/DF), and crossflow filtration describe one approach. The product flows across a membrane while liquid and small molecules pass through it, which concentrates a protein and swaps its buffer in one system. Skids run from benchtop to process scale, and the membrane cassettes or hollow fibers are consumables bought new. They are listed under ultrafiltration and purification equipment.
Disc stack centrifuges and separators
A disc stack centrifuge, also sold as a separator or clarifier, spins the culture through a stack of conical discs to throw out cells and debris. Self-cleaning designs, called desludgers, discharge solids while running, which suits large microbial batches. Cell culture harvest uses hermetic designs that treat the cells more gently, and single-use centrifuges appear at smaller scale. Browse them under disc centrifuges.
Incubators, shakers, and stability chambers
A seed train starts in CO2 incubators and incubator shakers, which hold temperature, humidity, and CO2 for flasks and culture bags. Stability chambers look similar but do a different job. They hold finished product at set conditions for shelf-life studies, and they appear in our incubators category alongside the culture units.
Manufacturers
Biotech Equipment Manufacturers We See Most
Federal Equipment Company does not build biotech equipment. We buy and sell used systems from the manufacturers that did, and these are the ones we see most often.
Upstream and cell culture
Sartorius Biostat STR single-use bioreactors, Palletank mixers, and stainless steel fermenters lead this side. Cytiva and GE Healthcare Xcellerex XDR bioreactors and XDUO mixers, Thermo Scientific HyClone bioreactors with HyPerforma and imPULSE mixers, and Pall bioreactors and totes follow. Benchtop and pilot vessels come most often from B. Braun, New Brunswick, and Eppendorf, with ABEC Systems in stainless steel production fermenters. For the seed train, New Brunswick Innova incubator shakers and BINDER CO2 incubators recur most. Environmental Specialties stability chambers are the ones we see most for shelf-life studies.
One series, several nameplates
Nameplates change with ownership, so search more than one name. Biostat fermenters carry B. Braun or Sartorius plates, BioFlo and CelliGen units carry New Brunswick or Eppendorf plates, and XDR bioreactors carry Xcellerex, GE Healthcare, or Cytiva plates, depending on when they were built.
Harvest and purification
Cytiva and GE Healthcare ÄKTA systems are the process chromatography we see most, from the ÄKTA pure and avant to ÄKTA pilot, process, and ready skids, along with AxiChrom and BPG columns. Millipore QuickScale and other process columns, Repligen single-use chromatography and KrosFlo TFF systems, and Cytiva ÄKTA readyflux systems cover the rest of purification. Disc separators come from Westfalia and Alfa Laval, and Microfluidics Microfluidizer and Gaulin homogenizers handle cell disruption.
When a company runs process development labs, pilot plants, and production suites at several sites, surplus turns up every year, not once. Our investment recovery programs manage that flow.
Program setup
A recovery website for your sites
Our Resource Recovery Program gives a company with several sites one place to list surplus. We build the recovery website, our team creates and maintains the listings from your sites' details and photos, and we train the people at each site who use it.
Redeployment
Redeploy between sites first
Your own sites get the first look at listed equipment for a set period, and it stays open to them after it is offered to outside buyers, until it sells. A bioreactor idle in one suite can fill a gap in another. Idle equipment can also wait in our Cleveland, OH warehouse, which frees cleanroom and lab space at the site.
Sale and reporting
Sell the rest and report on all of it
Once the internal period ends, equipment is also listed for outside sale by outright purchase, consignment, private treaty, or online auction. Program reports show assets redeployed, estimated capital spending avoided, gross proceeds, fees and expenses, and net recovery.
The program also works in reverse. When a site needs a system no other site can spare, we source it from our inventory or our network.
Buying used
Buying Used Bioprocess Equipment
A used bioreactor or chromatography skid is judged on more than its mechanical condition. Four things deserve attention before you commit.
Single-use hardware and its consumables
Buying used single-use equipment means buying the reusable hardware: the support vessel, drive, load cells, jacket, and controller. Bags, tubing sets, and disposable sensors come new from the manufacturer, so confirm that the bag format is still supplied before you buy the system. These systems often reach us unused.
What grew in it
Ask what organism or cell line ran in the equipment and the biosafety level of the suite it came from. Where a buyer wants more assurance, our decontamination service can reduce bioburden before shipment and provide a written report. Cleaning and sterilizing the equipment at your site, and validating that work, stay with your quality team.
Controllers and software
A bioreactor or chromatography system depends on its controller. Note whether the control tower comes with the vessel, which software version it runs, and whether the software license will transfer to you. Data integrity and computer system validation are the buyer's to establish.
Lead time
New bioreactors and process chromatography skids are build-to-order equipment, with lead times measured in months. Equipment already in our warehouse can ship in days or weeks once inspection and any refurbishment are complete.
Selling surplus
Selling Surplus Biotech Equipment
Biotech equipment comes to us when a clinical program ends, a company consolidates sites, a contract manufacturer reconfigures a suite, or a facility closes. We buy outright when a seller needs a firm offer and a clear date. Consignment, private treaty sales, and online auctions put equipment in front of end buyers, which can return more when demand is strong.
Send us the asset list for the suite, lab, or pilot plant, and we will reply with a valuation and the sale route that fits it.
Decommissioning, rigging, and removal, with the cost advanced by us and deducted from the proceeds, so there is no upfront cost to you
What equipment does a biotechnology manufacturing plant need?
It depends on the product. A plant making antibodies or other recombinant proteins usually needs tanks or single-use mixers for media and buffer, then incubator shakers, seed bioreactors, and production bioreactors. Harvest uses disc stack centrifuges and depth filters, and purification uses chromatography and TFF systems, with virus filters for most mammalian products. Fill-finish, a QC lab, and often lyophilization follow, with purified water, clean steam, and clean-in-place systems behind them. Vaccine, fermentation, and cell therapy plants vary from that train.
What is the difference between cell culture and fermentation equipment?
Each is usually a stirred, aerated tank with control of temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen, and cell culture can also run in rocking bags or other single-use designs. The difference is the organism. Fermenters grow bacteria, yeast, or fungi, which grow fast and need vigorous mixing, more air, and extra cooling. Cell culture bioreactors grow mammalian or insect cells, which are fragile and need gentle mixing. Some benchtop systems, such as the BioFlo/CelliGen 115, do both, so check the impeller and gas system to see how one was set up.
Can single-use bioprocess equipment be bought used?
Yes. The bag, tubing, and sensors that touch the product are consumables you buy new, but the hardware that holds and runs them is reusable: the support vessel, drive, load cells, jacket, and controller. That hardware is what we sell. Before you buy, confirm that the manufacturer still supplies bags in that format, and check the date on any unused bags included, since single-use assemblies carry a shelf life.
What should I check before buying used bioprocess equipment?
Start with working volume and the vessel and jacket pressure ratings on the nameplate. Then check the agitator type, the probe ports for pH and dissolved oxygen, the gas flow controllers, and whether the control tower and its software come with the vessel. Equipment in Cleveland, OH can be inspected, and we run it under power where we can. Many buyers bring a representative from the original manufacturer to look the system over, and we can walk through it on a live video call when no one can travel.
How is used biotech equipment decontaminated before it ships?
Start by asking what ran in it: the organism or cell line, and the biosafety level of the suite it came from. Where a buyer needs more assurance, our decontamination service can reduce bioburden with a dry vapor of peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide, or with chlorine dioxide gas, and test for beta-lactam residue, with a written report. Once it arrives, your quality team cleans, sterilizes, and validates it for your process.
Do you sell unused biotech equipment?
Yes. Unused single-use bioreactors and mixers, chromatography systems, and freeze dryers come through regularly, and our listings say when a machine has never run. Unused does not always mean current, so check the build date, the controller's software version, and the shelf life of any bags or assemblies that come with it. We have also run online auctions made up largely of unused biotech and biopharma equipment.
Does Federal Equipment Company run biotech auctions?
Yes. We run online auctions for biotech and biopharma companies that are closing a site or clearing surplus, from research labs and pilot plants to biologics manufacturing suites and a complete fermentation plant. Lots have included single-use and stainless steel bioreactors, chromatography and TFF systems, and disc separators. Upcoming sales and the archive of past ones are on our auctions page.
How does an investment recovery program work for a biopharma company?
It suits a company with surplus at several sites. We build a recovery website, and our team lists idle equipment from your sites' details and photos. Your other sites get the first look for a set period. After that we also list the item for outside sale, and a site can still claim it until it sells. Outside sales run by outright purchase, consignment, private treaty, or online auction. Reports cover assets redeployed, estimated capital spending avoided, gross proceeds, fees and expenses, and net recovery.
Scaling up a process or clearing a site? Talk to our sales team.
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