Protecting body for a flexible pouch, system for containing a biopharmaceutical fluid and methods for using such a system

A method for manufacturing a system for containing a biopharmaceutical fluid, comprising:

• arranging a flexible pouch on a substantially planar plate which forms a protecting body lower surface,
• attaching a substantially planar plate, which forms a protecting body upper surface, to the plate which forms a protecting body lower surface, such that the flexible pouch is sandwiched between two pieces forming the two plates which constrain the flexible pouch such that the two plates form a protecting body which is planar for a non-filled state of the flexible pouch, the two plates exerting a return force which tends to expel the biopharmaceutical fluid from the flexible pouch, the protecting body comprising two parallel longitudinal sides and two parallel transverse sides, the protecting body comprising, on a peripheral side chosen amongst one of the two parallel longitudinal sides, at least one opening able to receive at least one port of the flexible pouch, the two plates being fixed to each other directly at the two parallel transversal sides of the protecting body,
• providing two further pieces which respectively form a lower frame and an upper frame, each of the two further pieces having a peripheral area with respect to a main plane of the upper and lower frames, the peripheral area of each of the two further pieces delineating an opening on a central area of each of the upper and lower frames,
• attaching the lower frame to the upper frame, in order to obtain a protecting package that protects the protecting body, the lower frame and the upper frame being fixed to each other such that they surround the flexible pouch, the upper frame being a piece of the protecting package surrounding the plate which forms a protecting body upper surface and the lower frame being a piece of the protecting package surrounding the plate which forms the protecting body lower surface, the lower frame and the upper frame annularly sandwiching a protecting body circumferential area that includes the two parallel transversal sides.

A system for containing a biopharmaceutical fluid, the system comprising:

• a protecting body for a flexible pouch specially designed to contain a biopharmaceutical fluid which comprises two constraining plates which respectively form a lower surface and an upper surface of the protective body and which are directly fixed to each other at a circumferential area of the protective body, the two constraining plates being able to sandwich the flexible pouch for constraining the flexible pouch, two pieces forming the two constraining plates, the two constraining plates being each planar in an assembled state of the protecting body for a non-filled state of the flexible pouch, the two constraining plates being flexible to allow the protective body to have in a central area thereof a height, as measured along a same vertical axis Z, greater than in the circumferential area for a filled state of the flexible pouch, and
• a protecting package having a protecting configuration to protect the protecting body and comprising two frames,
• the two frames being fixed to each other such that the two frames are able to respectively surround the two constraining plates which sandwich the flexible pouch,
• the two frames annularly sandwiching the circumferential area in the protecting configuration of the protecting package,
• each of the two frames having an opening on a central area, the opening being delimited by a frame peripheral inner edge,
• wherein in the assembled state, the protecting body comprises, on a peripheral side chosen amongst four peripheral sides of the protecting body, at least one side opening able to receive at least one port of the flexible pouch.