Industrial Implementation of in Vitro Production of Monoclonal Antibodies

Monoclonal antibodies are widely used at GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK Bio) for the quantification and characterization of antigens and for the release of vaccine lots. In 1998, GSK Bio decided to change the production of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) designed for immunological tools from in vivo to in vitro technology. In 2004, all MAbs used at GSK Bio were produced in vitro. These MAbs cover more than 100 different targets with a variety of 1500 hybridomas, and approximately 60 to 90 MAbs are produced every year. This article describes the development process, including a description of the different systems tested based on double membrane or hollow fiber technology. The productivity, assets, and drawbacks of the different technologies are presented, and evaluation strategies for the choice of in vitro systems are discussed. Binding kinetics displayed by MAbs produced in vitro and in vivo were found to be similar, and MAbs produced in vitro are suitable tools for various immunological applications.