Production kinetics of monoclonal antibodies

Two typical patterns of kinetics of monoclonal antibody (mAb) production are observed. Hybridomas which produce high mAb-titers do not show any feed back inhibition upon secretion of mAb into the culture supernatant over long periods of cultivation. "Low producing hybridomas" generally display high initial rates of mAb production, however, after a few hours the mAb secretion is stopped at a certain low concentration level in the order of some 100 mg mAb per ml. To illustrate the case that the high initial production rates of mAb of low producing hybridomas could be maintained for a period of at least 24 hours, mAb titers comparable to those produced by high-mAb-titer producing hybridomas were achieved.