Author Archives: Sebastien Chaussin

Going Big in Cold-Chain Management: Anticipating Challenges and Finding Solutions for Large Volumes

Bulk drug substances (BDS) often require frozen storage to preserve the integrity of biological material. Cold-chain management is particularly important given recent trends toward increasing globalization and decentralization and diversifying modalities. A secure cold chain is essential for maintaining a product’s critical quality attributes (CQAs) — such as drug product stability, integrity, and purity — and to prevent costly product losses. Scaling Up the Cold Chain Frozen storage at commercial scale presents its own challenges; facilities must be able to…

Development and Qualification of a Scalable, Disposable Bioreactor for GMP-Compliant Cell Culture

During the development of single-use, stirred-tank bioreactors (e.g., BIOSTAT STR bioreactors), different phases can be distinguished (Figure 1). First, a clear definition of the intended application and all related requirements should be captured in a user requirement specification (URS). Based on that, the single-use bioreactor design phase and the material selection phase are initiated, both closely linked to each other. During the proof-of-concept phase, relevant component- and product-based tests are established and realized to ensure URS compliance. Finally, the qualification…

Development and Qualification of a Scalable, Disposable Bioreactor for GMP-Compliant Cell Culture

During the past decade, single-use bioreactors have become widely accepted for use in cell culture process development and clinical manufacturing. Their key benefits over stainless steel bioreactors are flexibility, cost, and time savings associated with the reduction of cross-contamination risks (1). Here, we describe our approach to development and qualification of the Biostat STR single-use, stirred-tank bioreactor. Unlike other stirred single-use bioreactors, it offers a similar design to that of well-established, conventional (stainless steel) stirred-tank bioreactors. Disposability of the single-use…