REPEATED HYBRIDOMA BATCH CULTURE WITH CELL RECYCLE

At the end of a hybridoma batch culture, the cells are usually discard ed after separation from the culture broth. If, however, they are asep tically recycled into the reactor, the production process can be resum ed simply by the addition of fresh medium. This cycle can then be repe ated several times consecutively. In a test case, with a mouse hybrido ma, we found antibody yields for each cycle in the same range as for a standard batch. In a 15 1 stirred tank reactor we could, within 6 day s, produce 2.8 g of monoclonal antibody (MAb). This type of reactor op eration allowed a doubling in the reactor volumetric productivity (mg/ l/day).