Surfactants reduce aggregation of monoclonal antibodies in cell culture medium with improvement in performance of mammalian cell culture

Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are biologics produced using mammalian cells and represent an important class of biotherapeutics. Aggregation in mAbs is a major challenge that can be mitigated by rigorous and reproducible upstream and downstream approaches. The impact of frequently used surfactants, like polysorbate 20, polysorbate 80, poloxamer 188, and 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin, on aggregation of mAbs during cell culture was investigated in this study. Their impact on cell proliferation, viability, and mAb titer was also investigated. Polysorbate 20 and polysorbate 80 at the concentration of 0.01 g/L and poloxamer 188 at the concentration of 5 g/L were found to be effective in reducing aggregate formation in cell culture medium, without affecting the cell growth or viability. Furthermore, their presence in culture media resulted in increased cell proliferation as compared to the control group. Addition of these surfactants at the specified concentrations increased monomer production while decreasing high molecular weight species in the medium. After mAbs were separated, using protein “A” chromatography, flasks with surfactant exhibited improved antibody stability, when analyzed by DLS. Thus, while producing aggregation-prone mAbs via mammalian cell culture, these excipients may be employed as cell culture medium supplements to enhance the quality and yield of functional mAbs.