Would you recommend a fixed-bed bioreactor for culture of cells if the cells were the end product?
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Options for Increasing Output and Reducing Footprint in Adherent Cell Culture
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In principle, I would not. However, on a case-by-case analysis, it can be an interesting option.
For example, Pluristem is growing placenta-derived stem cells in a fixed-bed bioreactor, and it was able to scale them up to quite a large scale with huge benefits because the microcarrier development was avoided.
Another example is insect cells; we know that Sf9 can grow entrapped in a fixed-bed bioreactor and that recovery is very easy.