Comparison Of N-1 Seed Train Performance In HyPerforma Rocker Bioreactor BPCs Using Renolit 9101 And Aegis 5-14 Films

By Paula Decaria, Senior Engineer, Process Development, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Michelle Nolasco Rivera, Engineer II, Systems Design, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Jordan Ball, Staff Engineer, Systems Design, Thermo Fisher Scientific

Introduction
Rocking-style bioreactors have been present in the bioprocessing industry since the 1990s [1] and have been commonly used as part of the seed train for production processes. The Thermo Scientific™ HyPerforma™ Rocker Bioreactor utilizes HyPerforma™ BioProcess Containers (BPCs), the HyPerforma™ G3Lab™ Bioprocess Controller, and Thermo Scientific™ TruBio™ software, powered by the DeltaV™ Distributed Control Platform from Emerson, providing a complete, ready-to-use solution for bioprocessing applications.

The initial film selected for use with the HyPerforma Rocker BPC was Renolit™ 9101 film (an LDPE film), which has been used successfully with the product for several years. We have recently added Thermo Scientific™ Aegis™ 5-14 film as an option for the HyPerforma Rocker BPC after numerous customer requests, to provide a consistent film for those using the Thermo Scientific™ HyPerforma™ Single-Use Bioreactor (S.U.B.).

This application note shows the performance of CHO-S cells grown in N-1 reactor conditions in both Renolit 9101 and Aegis5-14 films. In an effort to benchmark biocompatibility of the two films, a working volume of 5 L in the 50 L HyPerforma Rocker BPC was chosen for the purpose of confirming acceptable growth performance, using practical worst-case growth promotion conditions of container contact surface area to culture liquid volume. Results confirmed equivalency of the two film types, giving confidence to using the HyPerforma Rocker BPC with Aegis5-14 film for seed train applications, in place of the original HyPerforma Rocker BPC with Renolit 9101 film. This option enables film consistency through the seed train and production vessels.