Large scale antibody production

Hybridoma cell lines produced by MAbSA or provided by the client will be weaned using one of 5 different serum-free media available to MAbSA. The medium chosen will be the one producing the largest growth and antibody secretion in the supernatant fluid to be harvested.

Cells will be growth to optimum concentrations and loaded into one or more bioreactors depending on the amount of antibody required and the timing chosen by the client. We normally collect weekly harvests that are purified immediately through protein G-affinity chromatography. The purified antibody can then be buffer exchanged into any buffer requested by the client or freeze-dried.

Each basic project entitles a minimum of four harvests that would normally yield between 20 and 60 mg of antibody, depending on the cell line. Higher quantities are possible with very good hybridoma cultures. If the client requires more antibody, harvests can be collected for much longer times, until the bioreactor ceases to support growth. In these cases, harvests will be collected and kept at -80 degrees until the client is ready to order them off-the-shelf. This will also save money because there is no need for the expense of setting up a new bioreactor every time the client returns.

Cells will routinelly be sub-cloned during the harvesting process to avoid build up of cells that have switched off their secretory machinery. This is a normal process that occur especially after a number of freeze-thaw cycles, as well as during stressed growth conditions. If these cells are left in the population, they will multiply faster because they have no metabolic pressure to secrete antibody. After some time, the number of these cells will be much higher than those that secrete antibody and the yield will visibly decline faster and faster. We normally replace the majority of cells in the bioreactor with sub-cloned cells every time we harvest (weekly).