By Michiel E. Ultee, Ph.D., CSO
Laureate Biopharma cell-culture scientists routinely develop cell-culture processes to produce higher titers of the desired recombinant protein over the original processes given to them by our clients. Increasing titer is one of the most effective routes to lower cost of goods for our clients. This is because titers can often be increased two to five fold, meaning that any given bioreactor run will produce that much more protein product. In contrast, improvements in downstream yields are typically less than two fold, such as increasing recovery from 50 to 70%.
Three case studies will be presented to demonstrate different cell lines and types of proteins. These include CHO, PER.C6, and hybridoma cell lines, and IgG and IgM antibodies. In each case the existing process was improved to result in higher final titers in the bioreactor. With these improved processes, our manufacturing team has successfully produced clinical material to enable our clients to advance these protein therapeutics in clinical evaluation.