In recent years single-use bioreactor technology has become increasingly important in industrial cell culture processes and has found numerous applications in the production of therapeutic proteins. The enhanced degree of flexibility and attenuated risk of cross-contamination that this technology provides have facilitated its uptake and utilisation for cell culture. These bioreactors are available in a variety of geometries and utilize different mixing mechanisms, it is therefore essential that the hydrodynamic environment is properly characterised to be able to optimise process conditions and test bioreactor's suitability to a specific type of culture. The aim of this work is to characterise such novel single-use technology, including stirred and wave-type bioreactors, to improve understanding of the effect of mixing characteristics on the performance of an antibody-producing cell line. The approach has also been used to select an appropriate scale-up methodology and compare parallel cultivations performed in shaken microwell, wave and stirred tank bioreactor systems.
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