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MCSGP Economic Calculator
Model the economics of large-scale peptide and oligonucleotide manufacturing. Compare conventional batch chromatography with ChromaCon’s MCSGP / AutoPeak® continuous process and see the impact on cost per gram, solvent and waste, profit, payback and ROI for your own production scenario.
Inputs
Yield & productivity assumptions
Advanced process inputs
Using the Productivity batch / MCSGP values from the main panel above.
Calibration (locked model constants)
Manufacturing cost per gram
Total and downstream-only cost of API
Profit at scale
Annual profit per product vs production amount
Steps mark where the recommended column / system size changes as production grows.
Solvent & waste
Annual solvent cost (bars) and waste mass
Quality-control burden
In-process controls per year
Cost breakdown — at the selected annual amount
Sensitivity — what moves MCSGP profit
Each bar spans MCSGP profit as the input varies ±20% (others held at base)
Model assumptions & provenance
Validation status. The peptide model is calibrated to within 0.2% of YMC ChromaCon’s internal peptide business case (Senn Chemicals 2014 synthesis fit; “Western New” GLP-1 API price fit). Oligonucleotide constants are provisional public-literature estimates (single-strand PS ASO / GalNAc-siRNA, 2026 sources) pending a validated oligo business case. Every constant is editable in the Calibration panel.
API price. Model curve = factor × Aexp ($/g, A = kg/yr), capturing economies of scale, or a user-entered flat $/g. Generic tier applies published cost-competitive multipliers to the innovator basis. A per-modality price floor ($50/g above 1000 kg/yr) keeps the high-volume tail plausible; any point where modeled price falls below modeled cost is flagged in-chart.
Synthesis cost. 84.55 × (A/yield)−0.15 $/g (peptide, from the business case). This exponent is intentionally gentler than the −0.22 in the workbook synthesis sheets; the two agree near 100 kg/yr and diverge away from it. Synthesis dominates COGS (~70%), so productivity/CAPEX effects on the per-product P&L are modest by construction.
Availability. Two independent factors, each applied once: effective productivity (3.5 batch / 6.0 MCSGP g/L/h) already embeds a 75% within-run duty; and the calendar figure operatingDays = 320 (365 minus ~45 days/yr for maintenance and changeover) is used uniformly for multi-product sizing, campaign feasibility and maximum output.
In-process control (QC). IPCs/kg scale with column volume as base × (30/i.D.)², clamped at a 30 cm reference to prevent a non-physical reversal at small diameters (batch base 81, MCSGP 3.2 IPCs/kg; Bachem bivalirudin case).
Capital & basis. System list prices are rounded, indicative figures (CAPEX is a minor COGS component). Total equipment = TWIN system + columns. Shared once-a-year plant costs — system depreciation, the annual resin fill, and staff training — are recovered across the N products sharing the plant: a single product (products/year = 1) carries them in full; N equal products carry 1/N each. Variable costs (synthesis, solvent, disposal, IPC, plant labour) and maintenance are per product (maintenance in proportion to campaign runtime). The cost breakdown, $/g, MCSGP profit and the discounted economics (NPV, IRR, payback) are all shown per product (the profit card also prints the ×N plant total). ROI and payback are ratios and read the same per product or plant-wide; NPV is this product’s share of the incremental value. ROI, payback and NPV use total equipment (system + columns). The batch comparator is priced on a single-column prep system, not a Contichrom TWIN.
Discounted economics. NPV, IRR and discounted payback are computed on the incremental case (MCSGP vs batch): the extra equipment cost is taken at year 0, and the incremental operating cash flow (with depreciation added back, so capital is not double-counted) runs over the depreciation horizon at the chosen discount rate. Sensitivity bars show how MCSGP profit moves when API price, synthesis cost, MCSGP yield or productivity each vary ±20%.
Use. Illustrative model estimates only — not a validated tool. See the disclaimer below.