What is a disposable bioreactor?
Traditionally, recombinant therapeutics produced in mammalian cells have been produced in stainless steel bioreactors. This technology requires significant labour and time to clean between operations to maintain the required standards for pharmaceutical operations. Also they make very high demands on energy, water usage and capital. Recent development in manufacturing technologies have made it possible to perform the same operations in single use disposable reactors. These units have significantly lower capital and operational costs with regards to labour and require minimal maintenance. In line with a growing trend in the biopharmaceutical industry, Cobra sees these as the future platforms for the production of mammalian secreted products, such as monoclonal antibodies as well as more novel products such as recombinant viruses. Recent reports suggest that this can also be a more environmentally acceptable method of production due to the lower energy and water demands.
