OEM pumps from Watson-Marlow Bredel are being used by The Automation Partnership on a fully automated flexible batch cell culture machine.
Headquartered in Royston, Hertfordshire and specialising in automated life science applications, The Automation Partnership (TAP) has designed the SelecT machine with a consortium of six major pharmaceutical companies to produce high quality, consistent cells for drug discovery on demand.
The consortium, which includes GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca and Parke-Davies recommended the use of Watson-Marlow’s peristaltic pumps that would provide a high performance metering solution while enabling easy cleaning.
Typically measuring around 2m x 2m x 3m, the SelecT machine provides a completely controlled class 100 HEPA-filtered environment for totally sterile cell culture growth, enabling pharmaceutical companies to grow and harvest cell lines overnight or at weekends without the need for supervision to enable screening five days a week.
Up to fifteen Watson-Marlow 314D peristaltic pump heads are vertically mounted on the machine's external front face to meter process fluids such as cell culture media or PBS rinse solution. Liquid is transferred into the sealed unit of the SelecT for metering onto cells using silicone tubing linked to a rack or refrigerator containing the fluids.
Additionally, two Watson Marlow 313FAC pumps are externally mounted alongside the 314D pump heads to transfer the fluid required for the washing and priming station used to clean the cell pooling and dispensing pot. The cells are then dispensed into multiwell plates.
According to David Jervis, Applications Manager at TAP, unlike manual cell cultivation methods, the SelecT allows entire automation of the process, resulting in increased consistency and individual cell traceability. They turned to Watson-Marlow Bredel for a peristaltic pumping solution.
The 313FAC and 314D peristaltic pumps from Watson-Marlow Bredel are both specially designed for 24-hour operation. The 313FAC has flow rates at 50Hz up to 1350ml/min at 270rpm. The 314D peristaltic pumps have four rollers for minimum pulsation and accept seven tube sizes without the need for adjustment.
