Perfusion Cultivations With NIST CHO Cells Using The Multifors 3 Bioreactor

By Giovanni Ceresa, Francesco Iannacci, Mayeul Ledore, Lea Wagner, and Thomas Villiger

Perfusion processes can support high cell densities and continuous operation, but they also introduce added complexity around volume control, feed management, biomass monitoring and integration with external filtration systems. This application note examines a 23-day NIST CHO perfusion cultivation using the Multifors 3 bench-top bioreactor with the Multifors 3 Perfusion Package. The culture was maintained at 23–30 × 10⁶ cells/mL and 2 vvd with viability consistently above 95%. The study highlights how gravimetric volume and feed control, inline capacitance-based bleed control, and key process parameters including pH, dissolved oxygen and biomass were managed through the Multifors 3 and eve® bioprocess software. It also demonstrates how the system can be combined with an external tangential flow filtration setup for long-term perfusion cultivation.

Read the full application note to explore the cultivation setup, control strategy and process performance in greater detail.