When comparing pharmaceutical filters, you're likely to find a wide variation in pricing. You may find yourself wondering -- what's the real difference between them? How can one sterilizing filter cost $500 and its equivalent cost $200? And in the case of a larger size, one can cost $1,000 while its equivalent costs $500. As a manufacturer of process filters for over 20 years, Critical Process Filtration, Inc. competes with large, well-known filtration companies and is a supplier to many distributors. We have been asked how our filters, delivering the same performance, can be so much less expensive than our larger competitors. Visually, sterilizing cartridge filters with pleated PES (polyethersulphone) membrane and polypropylene support media and hardware look pretty much the same from manufacturer to manufacturer. The end cap or cage designs may vary to differentiate between manufacturers, but that's not the reason for the drastic cost differences. Comparing product specifications between suppliers shows that all sterilizing filters are integrity tested, with very similar diffusion and flow specifications. They are also validated to ensure the integrity test correlates to bacteria removal. So, if they look the same, and perform the same, what accounts for pricing differences of 50% or more? To try to answer this question, we will detail the factors that impact the cost of filters in your market and why pharmaceutical companies should care.
