Process intensification for CHO cell biomanufacturing

Summary

Mammalian cells are cultivated to produce vital biopharmaceuticals in large-scale bioreactors (> 1,000 L) to serve global needs. Companies are faced with rising future demands but are simultaneously challenged with cost pressure for their production. Thus, conventional biomanufacturing strategies must be intensified to meet the demands of the market and remain competitive. In this PhD thesis, a step-wise approach for the intensification of an established CHO cell process for the production of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) in small-scale bioreactors (15 mL – 5 L) is demonstrated. The resulting process strategy allowed to double the productivity of the preceding process by applying targeted intensification methods and thereby reduce the overall upstream mAb production costs by about 20%.