Bag bioreactor based on wave-induced motion: characteristics and applications.

Today wave-mixed bag bioreactors are common devices in modern biotechnological processes where simple, safe and flexible production has top priority. Numerous studies that have been published on ex vivo generation of cells, viruses and therapeutic agents during the last 10 years have confirmed their suitability and even superiority to stirred bioreactors made from glass or stainless steel for animal as well as plant cell cultivations. In these studies the wave-mixed bag bioreactors enabled middle to high cell density and adequate productivity in laboratory and pilot scale. This mainly results from low-shear conditions and highly efficient oxygen transfer for cell cultures, as demonstrated for the widely used BioWave((R)).Starting with an overview of wave-mixed bag bioreactors and their common operation strategies, this chapter delineates engineering aspects of BioWave((R)), which like Wave Reactor and BIOSTAT((R))CultiBag RM originates from the prototype of a wave-mixed bag bioreactor introduced in 1998. Subsequently, the second part of the chapter focuses on reported BioWave((R)) applications. Conditions and results from cultivations with animal cells, plant cells, microbial cells and nematodes are presented and discussed.