26/02/2010Telstar introduces into the international market the first minibioreactors allowing multiple simultaneous cell culture trials

Telstar is introducing into the market a completely innovative minibioreactor model to perform animal cell culture screening studies on a scale applicable to R&D. Planned for March 2010, this equipment will be launched on the market under the brand name of Telstar Hexascreen.

It is the first minibioreactor on the market to enable animal cell culture trials and experiments on a scale of 10 to 15 m, with the capacity to handle six cultures at a time, and a workstation accommodating single-use interchangeable plates to guarantee sterility and speed up the start of the bioprocess.

The launch of this new bioreactor reinforces Telstar's activity in the field of R&D equipment for biotechnology applications. The new minibioreactor will be included in the technological development line Telstar Cell Culture, where Telstar has plans for future growth. Telstar is currently designing, manufacturing and marketing other equipment designed for pharmaceutical, biotechnological and biomedical research, to which it will be adding the new range of Telstar Hexascreen minibioreactors.

The development of these minibioreactors is the result of an alliance of synergies between Telstar and the technology oriented company Hexascreen Culture Technologies, which specializes in bioreactor applications for animal cell based processes, which Telstar recently joined through a shareholding acquisition.

Innovative equipment

These units offer change of medium, monitoring and control facilities similar to those of laboratory reactors, which enable the collection of information on the main culture variables, such as the temperature, dissolved oxygen/oxygen consumption, pH, optical density and measurement of the spectrum in the visible range, while simultaneously monitoring growth (absorbance) and metabolism (indirectly from acidification/ oxygen consumption).

All these features make the Telstar Hexascreen the most innovative equipment for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry market and research centers because:

• It offers the user reduced cost by being able to carry out the first trials on a minimum scale in order to ensure that the results obtained in its cultures will be reproducible on a production scale.

• It speeds up the bioprocess and multiples the opportunities for experimentation by being able to develop six simultaneous cultures.

• It facilitates the start of the bioprocess by the use of replaceable plates which ensure sterility, requiring the user merely to inoculate the cultures before placing the plate in the workstation. This innovation overcomes the complexity of use usually found in bioreactors, which involve laborious preparation, sterilization and calibration processes before the start of the cultures, often requiring highly qualified personnel.

During 2010, Telstar will develop a new stage in the Telstar Hexascreen minibioreactor by incorporating the fed-batch model for growth and increased productivity of the cell culture.

Collaboration with universities and technological leadership

Telstar's leadership in the innovation and development of new technologies in the field of life sciences is the result of an ongoing policy of collaboration between the company and the universities and technological centers.

In fact Telstar has become part of the Hexascreen Culture Technologies university spin-off, which has an advisory scientific committee formed by researchers connected to the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. This alliance will enable Telstar to strengthen its ties with the scientific community, identify advances in research and development in the sector, provide guidance on approaches and technological improvements associated with research and development in the sector, and provide guidance on approaches and improve technologies associated with animal cell research in the sectors associated with life sciences.