A fully defined, fed-batch, recombinant NS0 culture process for monoclonal antibody production.

To manufacture a glycoprotein, mammalian cells expressing the desired protein are often grown in fed-batch mode. Feeding an undefined, nonanimal hydrolysate helps the cells receive sufficient nutrition, but makes systems difficult to optimize. Even different lots of the same hydrolysate may have significant variability; furthermore, individual components may actually be detrimental to the cells.

A single nutrient feed supports both chemically defined NS0 and CHO fed-batch processes: Improved productivity and lactate metabolism.

A chemically defined nutrient feed (CDF) coupled with basal medium preloading was developed to replace a hydrolysate-containing feed (HCF) for a fed-batch NS0 process. The CDF not only enabled a completely chemically defined process but also increased recombinant monoclonal antibody titer by 115%. Subsequent tests of CDF in a CHO process indicated that it could also replace the hydrolysate-containing nutrient feed in this expression system as well as providing an 80% increase in product titer.