The Automation Partnership's ambr technology to be previewed at the Bioprocess International Conference

Oct 13 2009

The Automation Partnership (TAP), a world leader in the design and development of innovative automation for life science applications, is exclusively previewing its Advanced Microscale BioReactor (ambr™) technology on Booth 914 at the Bioprocess International Conference in Raleigh, USA.

ambr™ is an advanced microscale bioreactor technology platform that mimics the physical characteristics of classical bioreactors at micro-scale (10-15ml) using disposable, low cost reactor cartridges. The system will enable rapid evaluation of multiple bioreactor cultures at microscale to select improved cell lines faster with significant savings on materials and labour. The system is being designed in collaboration with a number of independent partners including: leading developers of therapeutic antibodies, major biologic contract manufacturing organisations and an innovative academic bioprocess engineering department.

The first generation ambr workstation automates the operation of 24 disposable bioreactors with a 10-15ml working volume, providing individual closed loop control of dissolved O₂ and pH and a supply of CO₂, N₂, O₂. The bioreactors are arranged as two sets of 12, each supplied with independent stirring and temperature control. The system automates culture set-up and inoculation; the addition of alkalis and feeds, as well as media sampling during the run for cell count and other analysis, thus reducing the number of manual processing steps and the possibility of cross contamination. Additionally, because ambr uses many disposable components, the need for cleaning and sterilising is significantly reduced further saving users’ time.

Tim Ward, ambr Product Manager at TAP, explained: “In an ideal world, most cell line developers would like to select clones under conditions that are as close as possible to those in a full size bioreactor but cost and time constraints mean that this is not practical. This has led scientists to look for microscale tube or plate based systems but until now, none of these included all the common physical characteristics of bioreactors (such as impellers, gas sparging and closed loop control of pH and DO). By mimicking conditions at larger scale, our exciting new ambr microscale technology has the potential to enable more effective development strategies, cost reduction and significant improvements in product quality.”