Development of an automated, multiwell plate based screening system for suspension cell culture

Introduction The automation of cell culture processes becomes more important in the pharmaceutical industry due to compressed timelines and the need to develop more products more efficiently. This drive to develop new processes faster and more efficient requires a streamlined workflow. Resource intensive approaches like the use of shake flasks limit the accessible design space for the development of highly productive processes or the characterization of established processes. Process automation provides the appropriate tools to address the following key points: Increasing experimental throughput ⇨ “Design of Experiments” using full factorial designs Increasing process information ⇨ improve process understanding (“Quality by Design”) Automate repetitive manual work ⇨ gain efficiency, focus on high value tasks Improve reproducibility ⇨ ensure robust processes A robotic plate handler based system was selected to meet the demands of a flexible, fast and modular screening system as presented in figure 1.