Production of a chimeric antibody for tumour imaging and therapy from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and myeloma cells

A human/murine chimeric antibody for tumour imaging and therapy has been made in a recombinant CHO cell line bearing a single copy of the antibody genes. A subclone of this line, chosen for its stability and authenticity and integrity of product, gave yields of 50 mg antibody/L in serum-free batch suspension culture; in fed-batch cultures yields were increased two fold. Using an alternative expression system, glutamine synthetase gene amplification in a myeloma host cell line, yields of this same antibody of up to 240 mg/L have been obtained in simple batch cultures. Authors: Field, R.P., Brand, H.N., Renner, G.L., Robertson, H.A., et al.