Elimination of serum from cell culture medium

Abstract

Growth of continuous cell lines for preparing biopharmaceuticals in the absence of animal serum has been attempted by many organizations to improve process and product quality, prevent exposure to adventitious agents, and reduce costs. Literature surveys suggest that substantial academic studies on serum-free medium have been pursued for many decades, with varying levels of success for different cell types and cell lines in terms of achieving cell growth while retaining cell function. Industrial research proceeded for at least three decades. Recent work with CHO cells and with some hybridomas has been successful in providing the basis for serially propagating cells on a large scale in suspension in the total absence of serum, while preserving the ability to prepare biopharmaceuticals. In some cases, this can be achieved not only without serum, but also without the use of other animal-derived proteins.