And what were the main reasons you changed to automation?
This question is part of the following Ask The Expert session:
Adapting manual cell line development workflows to automation
Answered by:
Company: Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Job Title: Development Associate IV, Biological Process Development
Answer
The main reason we changed to automation was to allow higher throughput. The automated system allows one operator to process many more clones than they could with a manual workflow. This gives us the ability to screen more clones per project or handle more projects with the same number of clones. Screening more clones could potentially allow us to find better clones. Looking through more hay could help us find more needles. Stretching the metaphor, finding more needles increases our chances of finding the best needle. Initiating more cell line development projects could allow cell line development to begin earlier in the overall project timeline, such as before final molecule selection. This can take cell line development off the critical path of CMC development, shortening overall project timelines.
Walk-away processing steps also frees up personnel to perform other tasks. These other tasks could include process improvements to produce more and better clones.