The use of chemically defined media in mammalian cell culture techniques is advantageous for many reasons, including, but not limited to, better traceability of raw materials, and better lot-to-lot consistency, which facilitate consistency in process performance. In contrast, the use of undefined, complex media components, such as yeast and soy hydrolysates, contribute to process performance variability, including differences in cell growth, product titer, and product quality attributes. Accordingly, the development and refinement of chemically defined media is particularly important for upstream process development, particularly in light of regulatory concerns and the desire for process robustness.
CDM, even when completely defined, can have one hundred or more individual chemical species whose relative contributions towards process performance are not completely understood. Therefore, it is difficult to predict what effect will be observed for any given addition or removal of a supplement. Furthermore, obtaining information regarding the relative roles of supplements is difficult in bioreactor scale culture as only a handful of compounds can be tested simultaneously and the endeavor would be complicated, expensive, and time-consuming process.
In light of the foregoing, it would be desirable to have a streamlined and reliable screening method to screen supplements in a high-throughput format. The instant invention meets that need by introducing a compound-by-compound screening approach that provides a robust, scalable, and economical method for inclusion into future media development and refinement strategies.