Study of a recombinant CHO cell line producing a monoclonal antibody by ATF or TFF external filter perfusion in a WAVE BioreactorTM

Background Major advantages of perfusion are high cell numbers and high total production in a relatively small size bioreactor. Moreover, perfusion is optimal when the product of interest is unstable or if the product yield is low. On the other hand, disadvantages are for example technical challenges originating from non-robust cell separation devices as well as sterility concerns from the more complex set-up needed. In the present work, the use of a WAVE BioreactorTM system 20/50 in perfusion mode with10 L disposable CellbagTM bioreactors customized with two dip tubes in combination with disposable hollow fiber filters as external cell separating devices were investigated. A comparison between Alternating Tangential Flow (ATF) and Tangential Flow Filtration (TFF) was performed using a recombinant CHO cell line producing a monoclonal antibody (mAb) as a model system.