Tools for bulk cell culture currently include stir-tank ($150,000-$200,000) and cell-cube ($50,000-$100,000) bioreactors, roller bottles, and hollow-fiber systems. "A roller bottle output of 8-10 billion cells (cell-line dependent) would require at least 15 liters of medium, assuming no medium change was necessary," comments Ed McKillip senior research scientist and supervisor of the bioreactor labs in Princeton, NJ, for Radnor, Pa.-based Wyeth. An equivalent output can be achieved with only 10 ml of medium per cassette in the RC2S, thereby using four liters of the most costly reagent needed, or about 25% of a roller bottle run. After reviewing the specifications of the RC2S, McKillip adds that having multiple reagent delivery lines (currently 10) means that researchers can expose a single cell line to many different test compounds, or treat many different cell lines with one reagent.
Unlike conventional cell culture that entails nonsterile trips in and out of the incubator, ...
