The role of high-throughput mini-bioreactors in process development and process optimization for mammalian cell culture

Abstract

In today’s competitive marketplace, the biopharmaceutical industry faces an ever increasing demand to deliver cost-effective therapeutic proteins with limited resources and shrinking timelines. One strategy to increase the throughput of cell culture process development is the utilization of plug-and-play disposable mini-bioreactors (MBRs). These MBRs are capable of operating controlled bioreactor conditions similar to those at traditional bench and large-scale, but in a high-throughput manner without extensive setup or cleanup procedures. These high-throughput systems have been incorporated in various stages of cell culture process development to enable time and resource efficient workflows. This review will highlight the strengths and challenges of several MBR systems within the respective process development workflow and provide insights into the future state of cell culture process development.