Bioassays are required for a variety of purposes in the development and production of biopharmaceuticals including drug candidate selection, product releases, product stability assessment, and comparability to support proposed process changes. However, because of their complexity and susceptibility to many variables, bioassays often prove problematic and difficult to develop. Timely development of suitable assay systems represents a major investment on the part of the biopharmaceutical industry — but late development often results in even more costly clinical holds. PRODUCT FOCUS:…
Upstream Processing
Cell Cultivation Process Transfer and Scale-Up
The introduction of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) has greatly revolutionized therapies for several cancer immune disorders (1,2,3,4,5). Benefits to patients have been substantial, translating into both increased life expectancy and improved quality of life. Currently, twenty-one therapeutic MAbs are registered for marketing in the United States, with the introduction of several more expected in the coming years (6,7,8,9,10,11). PRODUCT FOCUS: MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIESPROCESS FOCUS: Technology transfer (production) and analytical methods developmentWHO SHOULD READ: PRODUCTION AND PROCESS DEVELOPMENT, MANUFACTURINGKEYWORDS: IGF-1R, EXPRESSION, TECH…
Process Monitoring in Suspension–Adapted CHO Cell Cultures
Suspension-adapted Chinese hamster ovary cell (CHO-S) cultures are widely used in biotechnological production of recombinant proteins. In fact, such special cell lines have become the standard for this type of biopharmaceutical production (1). The reasons for that include their fast reproduction, high protein expression rate compared with other eukaryotic cells and, above all, the glycosylation patterns generated by the cells (2, 3). PRODUCT FOCUS: Animal cell products (recombinant proteins)PROCESS FOCUS: Production and product developmentWHO SHOULD READ: Process and cell culture…
Integrated Strategies for Clone and Media Formulation Selection
Clone selection techniques used for development of stable, high-expressing recombinant cell lines suitable for robust fed-batch cell culture processes are critical for biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Basal media screening, feed development and addition strategies, and fed-batch bioreactor performance are all intimately tied to overall performance of the clones during scale-up. Serious issues can arise if a high-quality clone is not established, such as low or unstable protein yield and ineffective use of costly resources. PRODUCT FOCUS: Recombinant proteinsPROCESS FOCUS: ProductionWHO SHOULD READ:…
Recommendations for Extractables and Leachables Testing
Extractables and leachables from disposable manufacturing systems must be addressed as part of process validation. Extractables are compounds that can migrate from a material into a solvent under exaggerated conditions of time and temperature. Leachables are compounds that actually do migrate into a drug product formulation under normal processing conditions. All materials have extractables and potentially have leachables. When properly evaluated, both are easily addressed and rarely lead to disqualification of a disposable component. PRODUCT FOCUS: ALL BIOLOGICSPROCESS FOCUS: MANUFACTURINGWHO…
Comparing Shaker Flasks with a Single-Use Bioreactor for Growing Yeast Seed Cultures
Pichia pastoris is a species of methylotrophic yeast that is widely used for protein expression both in academia and the biotechnology industry. A number of properties make it suited for this task (1). Pichia has a high growth rate, and it can grow on simple, inexpensive media. It can also be grown in either shaker flasks or bioreactors, which makes it suitable for both small-and large-scale protein production. PRODUCT FOCUS: Yeast-expressed recombinant proteinsPROCESS FOCUS: ProductionWHO SHOULD READ: Manufacturing and process…