Christopher Shen, Kirilynn Svay, Delyan Rusev, Jeffrey Rosenbloom, Dennis Duong, Mukunda Krishna, Matt Croughan Amgen Bioprocessing Center, Keck Graduate Institute, Claremont, CA 91711

Abstract

As the workhorse of biopharmaceutical production, Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells are constantly being pushed to achieve greater productivity and higher titers of valuable life saving drugs. A number of methods have been developed toward this end including process control optimization, feeding strategy, genetic engineering, and media supplementation. Media supplementation with fetal bovine serum (FBS) is known to improve cell growth but is nonideal for cGMP manufacturing due to risks of contamination from animal sourced raw materials. Here, we tested two animal-free media supplements: recombinant lactoferrin (rLf), a milk protein with antimicrobial properties that can also aid in iron absorption by cells, and recombinant human serum albumin (rHSA), an anionic serum protein that aids in cell uptake of nutrients. We evaluated their effect on CHO cell growth and product yield.