Upstream Processing

Antibody production takes place in CHO cells, cultivated by intensified fed-batch fermentation. 

Core Features

  • Annual bsAb production of up to 200 kg in CHO cells
  • Intensified fed-batch in orbitally shaken bioreactors
  • GMP-compliant single-use technology

Production Lines

Our medium-sized production plant is designed to produce up to 200 kg of Octomab every year. For this, we aim to produce a separate LOT every week, resulting in a total of 46 annual campaigns. The core of our USP consists of three independent seed-trains. The main process with production phase takes place in three orbitally shaken bioreactors (OSRs) with a working volume of 2500 L each. For every N-stage fermenter a process time of 21 days is planned, including cell expansion, harvest and cleaning.

Cell Expansion

In cooperation with the experts at Kuhner, we developed an optimized scale-up process in orbitally shaken bioreactors.

This technology minimizes shear stress and offers easy scale-up due to preserved mixing hydrodynamics across all platforms (Microsoft PowerPoint - 2013 ECI poster).

Cell expansion starts with high density cell banking for subsequent inoculation of bioreactors.

N-Stage Process

The final fed-batch process is done in a 2500 L bioreactor.