[Biomanufacturing of monoclonal antibodies]

Antibody-based drugs are an increasingly important part of the therapeutic arsenal against a wide variety of medical conditions. As the number of commercial products and pipeline candidates grows, a crucial issue facing the industry is the current and future state of biomanufacturing. The productivity of the protein expression platforms, along with the performance of the technologies impacting upstream and downstream bioprocessing, are critical factors affecting the cost and time of therapeutic antibody development and commercialization. Cell engineering strategies are being used to improve the production of antibodies and to better control their quality in terms of posttranslational modifications, in particular with regards to their glycosylation state, as this can influence their therapeutic activity. Additionally, the advance of "omics" technologies have recently given rise to new possibilities in improving these expression platforms. We review here the various advances in biomanufacturing essential to the continued growth of the therapeutic antibody market.