Systematic Approaches to Develop Chemically Defined Cell Culture Feed Media - It is important to ensure that the transition from peptone-containing to CD media doesn't affect product quality. - BioPha
Developing chemically defined (CD) media suited for multiple Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines can be a challenging and
extensive process because of the complexity of cellular metabolism and the associated phenotypic variations observed in cell
lines, even when derived from the same parental cell line. In this article, we present certain systematic approaches to develop
CD cell culture media. Two feed media development applications have been explored, each with distinct goals. First, a systematic
approach was used to develop a platform CD feed medium, which can be used for many antibody producing CHO cell lines without
any major cell line-specific optimization. Second, an iterative optimization approach was applied to develop an enriched feed
media tailored to individual cell lines, to achieve higher titers.
(GENENTECH, INC.)
As cell culture technology has matured, platform processes have become the standard in the biotechnology industry, particularly
in early-stage development, to enable the rapid production of toxicology and Phase 1 and 2 clinical material with acceptable
product quality attributes. The cell culture platform often consists of a standard host cell, expression vector, transfection
and selection methods, cell culture media and culture techniques with appropriate process control, and scale-up methodologies.
An ideal cell culture platform medium not only enables rapid cell culture process development, but also could provide predictable
process performance at different production scales and thereby aid in the development of downstream process platforms as well.
Figure 1. A platform cell culture medium, integrated from early cell line development activities to clinical production, streamlines
process development to meet aggressive timeline
The majority of the biopharmaceutical industry currently is using fed-batch cultures of animal cells as the platform technology
to synthesize biopharmaceutical proteins because it offers the benefits of high yields and operational simplicity.1 A fed-batch process requires a basal medium to support cell growth and productivity and a feed medium to prevent nutrient
depletion, extend culture longevity, and maintain high volumetric productivity. A typical basal medium contains 50–70 chemical
components, including carbon sources, amino acids, vitamins, salts, and trace elements. Feed media usually contain fewer components
than the basal media, but at higher concentrations.2 Cell culture media have evolved over the years from serum-containing to chemically defined (CD) formulations.3 Recent advances in cell culture media optimization have resulted in higher volumetric productivities in fed-batch processes.
Cell culture media optimization is an integral part of mammalian cell culture process development and optimization, which
support all activities from cell line development and clone selection to process optimization and scale-up. Cell culture process
development starts with cell line generation and selection, followed by process and media optimization in scale-down systems,
including 96-well plates, shaker flasks, and bench-scale bioreactors. After the process conditions are defined, the process
often is transferred to the pilot scale to test scalability and produce material for preclinical toxicology studies. Subsequently,
the process is further scaled-up to generate clinical material under current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) regulations
(Figure 1). The ideal cell culture medium should support robust cell growth, productivity, and product titer and quality goals,
both during development and process transfer to different scales and manufacturing sites.
Historically, bovine serum had been a popular supplement in cell culture media because it improves cell growth and productivity.
Regulatory agencies have encouraged the industry to avoid animal-derived supplements to mitigate the risk of introducing adventitious
agents such as viruses and prions.4,5
Protein hydrolysates, which can provide similar benefits as serum, can be animal-derived from bovine milk or tissues, or non-animal–derived
from yeast, cotton seed, soy, wheat, or other plant sources. Some disadvantages of hydrolysates include lot-to-lot variability
leading to process and product inconsistencies. The undefined chemical composition of hydrolysates can lead to challenges
in process understanding, making further medium optimization difficult.6 Therefore, many biopharmaceutical companies are transitioning to CD media formulations and a few vendors now also offer
CD basal and feed media.7 We observed that the current version of our peptone-containing media, when used with most cell lines, lead to robust cell
culture performance at different scales and generated titers greater than 1 g/L for most of our in-house cell lines. After
removing the peptone from our platform feed medium, a systematic approach was applied to develop a suitable CD platform feed
medium. An iterative optimization approach was then applied to develop enhanced feeds tailored to individual cell lines to
achieve higher titers.
Efren Pacis is a senior research associate at Oceanside Pharma Technical Development, Genentech, Inc.
Articles by Efren Pacis
Natarajan Vijayasankaran
Natarajan Vijayasankaran is engineer II at late stage cell culture, US Biologics Pharma Technical Development, Genentech, Inc.
Articles by Natarajan Vijayasankaran
Jincai Li
Jincai Li is a senior engineer at Oceanside Pharma Technical Development, Genentech, Inc.
Articles by Jincai Li
Martin Gawlitzek
Martin Gawlitzek is a senior scientist at late stage cell culture, US Biologics Pharma Technical Development, Genentech, Inc.
Articles by Martin Gawlitzek
Ashraf Amanullah
Ashraf Amanullah is a director at Oceanside Pharma Technical Development, Genentech, Inc.
Articles by Ashraf Amanullah
