Evaluation of a disposable stirred tank bioreactor for cultivation of mammalian cells

Introduction Disposable bioreactors are increasingly gaining acceptance for cell culture applications due to a number of advantages including ease of use and reduced labour costs, less requirements for utilities such as steam and purified water. In addition, the system requires no cleaning or cleaning validation and only a reduced clean room footprint. Integrated ready to use pre-sterilised disposable sensors for pH and dO2 monitoring are expected to reduce the risk of contamination compared to conventional electrodes. Accordingly, a disposable pre-sterilised and therefore ready-to-use 200 L bioreactor featuring optical sensors for dO2 and pH has been evaluated for suspension culture of CHO cells in protein free media.