Leveraging Media And Supplements For Desired Protein Glycosylation

Obtaining desirable and consistent monoclonal antibody (mAb) protein quality attributes, such as glycosylation, is critical in today’s bioproduction industry, especially for biosimilar molecules. The cell line, cell culture media, and process all contribute to the glycosylation profile. While modifications to the cell line and process can require extensive time and effort, optimization and supplementation of cell culture media offers a rapid option for achieving the desired glycosylation profile. Here, we highlight a case where we use high throughput screening (HTS) to evaluate mAb production and glycosylation for a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line in a chemically defined (CD) media panel. Selection of optimal media required considerations of both production and galactosylation. Further, mathematical modeling approaches were used for the identification of media components, which correlate to galactosylation and production, thereby giving a more in-depth understanding of the role that media components can play on these critical attributes. Additionally, we also highlight development of titratable protein quality media supplements for increasing mAb galactosylation, without impacting cell growth and mAb production. Such supplements provide a flexible solution to increasing protein galactosylation, where through the modulation of media, both desired galactosylation and production could be achieved.