Process development for purifying tacrolimus from Streptomyces sp. using adsorption

The immunosuppressant tacrolimus produced by Streptomyces sp. TST10 was purified in a process that included extraction, pre-adsorption using HP20 resin, adsorption using CG161M resin, and crystallization. In this study, the purification process using the adsorption resin CG161M was optimized by correlating tacrolimus yield with analogue load. One-step adsorption and two-step adsorption using CG161M can be applied selectively to the purification process, according to the analogue load of the input solution. We determined a correlation between the analogue load and the first adsorption yield in the two-step adsorption. We also observed yields according to the analogue loads in the one-step adsorption and the second adsorption of the two-step adsorption. As a result, the purification yields can be predicted by input conditions (analogue load). The purification strategy can be modified to achieve specific goals of purity, yield, and cost.