Progress in animal cell perfusion technology with Superspin

The Superspin is an advanced perfusion technology which permits to obtain very high viable cell densities in animal cell culture. The concept is based on a rotating filter with a mesh size slightly larger than the cell diameter. By varying the filter surface speed it is possible to control the cell retention rate inside the reactor. A cell retention of 80–90% is considered to be optimal for high viability and cell density. The viability remained all over the culture between 75–85%, which was the base for a high MAb-production. In 8 I working volume, 60 g of IgG-antibodies had been produced within 25 days. The MAb-concentration reached values of 400 mg/I. For more than 300 hours the viable cell concentration was higher than 10 million cells/ml and peaked at 24.9 million cells/ml. Considerations for scale-up are given.