A team of scientists has led one of the first studies to reap the benefits of a first-of-its-kind industry reference cell. The research, led by the University of Maryland and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), tested off-the-shelf culture media from five leading industry suppliers using the NISTCHO, the first open-access industry-standard reference cell line.
The study is part of a project to lower the cost of each gram of monoclonal antibody (mAb) by helping manufacturers move from fermentation batch to continuous perfusion processing.
“The world is trying to move towards more perfusion and intensified modalities and we’re asking smart questions about how to select cells and media formulations to best suit,” explains Hussain Dahodwala, PhD, associate research professor at the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, who led the study.
The NISTCHO is a Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell line designed to promote more reproducible experiments and collaborative research, along with improved staff training. It produces a standardized antibody, the cNISTmAb, and can be used in multiple labs.
“Using NISTCHO means people can test the reproducibility of experiments in different labs and with different off-the-shelf media,” Dahodwala explains.
In the new experiment, the NISTCHO was grown using an intensified process, which takes four days as compared to a fortnight for a traditional process, Dahodwala explains, noting that “It frees up facility space and can make a significant dent into the cost per gram of antibody therapeutics.”
The Maryland team tested media from five leading manufacturers. They found one media performed best at a lower seeding density, whereas another only performed best in terms of yield per batch when there was a high number of starting cells.
“We found there wasn’t one right media formulation—it depends on what modality you run,” points out Dahodwala.
The team is now moving onto investigating what’s the highest density at which they can grow NISTCHO successfully, and how to maximize its productivity.
“We can chip away at these problems, one group at a time, because NISTCHO is available to everyone,” says Dahodwala. “Academia, industry. Everyone can try out ideas.”