Real Time Matabolic Flux Modelling In Biopharmaceutical Bioprocessing

Investigation into the use of non-invasive real time spectroscopic methods to monitor flux in cultures of industrial Pichia strains.

Biopharmaceuticals are a relatively new class of drugs which have revolutionised the treatement of many serious causes of human ill health including cancers and leukaemia. However, these drugs are very complex, and are produced using selected strains of microorganisms or cell culture lines(expression systems). Our understanding of the interactions between the genetics of these expression systems, their interactions with the culture environment, and final "quality" of the drug is very incomplete. All of this adds to the cost and complexity of using these drugs, restricting their availability. In this project we examined an entirely novel method of understanding in far more detail (in real time, using spectroscopic sensors and previously published flux models) how the metabolism of the expression system changes with culture environment. This established the feasibility of our approach. The platform technology developed has the capacity to accelerate the drug development cycle through this enhanced understanding delivering biopharm type drugs to the clinic faster and at lower costs.