Microcarrier based production of cryopreserved cells

The use of cellular assays in drug screening continues to grow with over 50% of primary screens using cell based formats in 2006. The majority of cells used in the drug discovery industry are fresh, using ‘just in time’ batch processing from in house facilities. This process could give rise to a number of issues, namely batch variation, scheduling of cell production and capacity management. We describe the use of microcarrier technology in combination with a suitably configured bioreactor to provide a rapid, robust and reproducible approach to cell production. Cells cultured in this way can be removed from beads, cryopreserved in a single HTS batch size format and maintain assay capacity.