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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Automated Counterflow Centrifugal System for Small-Scale Cell Processing
Published on: December 12, 2019
Development of a versatile high-temperature short-time (HTST) pasteurization device for small-scale processing of
Patrick Floris1, Sean Curtin2, Christian Kaisermayer2
1Characterisation and Comparability Laboratory, NIBRT-The National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training, Fosters Avenue, Mount Merrion, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, A94 X099, Ireland.
Abstract:
The compatibility of CHO cell culture medium formulations with all stages of the bioprocess must be evaluated through small-scale studies prior to scale-up for commercial manufacturing operations. Here, we describe the development of a bespoke small-scale device for assessing the compatibility of culture media with a widely implemented upstream viral clearance strategy, high-temperature short-time (HTST) treatment. The thermal stability of undefined medium formulations supplemented with soy hydrolysates was evaluated upon variations in critical HTST processing parameters, namely, holding times and temperatures. Prolonged holding times of 43 s at temperatures of 110 °C did not adversely impact medium quality while significant degradation was observed upon treatment at elevated temperatures (200 °C) for shorter time periods (11 s). The performance of the device was benchmarked against a commercially available mini-pilot HTST system upon treatment of identical formulations on both platforms. Processed medium samples were analyzed by untargeted LC-MS/MS for compositional profiling followed by chemometric evaluation, which confirmed the observed degradation effects caused by elevated holding temperatures but revealed comparable performance of our developed device with the commercial mini-pilot setup. The developed device can assist medium optimization activities by reducing volume requirements relative to commercially available mini-pilot instrumentation and by facilitating fast throughput evaluation of heat-induced effects on multiple medium lots.
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