Reference cell lines quality control

In certain cases, serum (fetal bovine serum—FBS) is added to promote the growth of cells. However, the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) problem has necessitated tight control on the quality of FBS (refer to Exhibit 10.12). This increases production and downstream processing costs. For new cell lines being developed, serum-free and protein-free media are used to circumvent the possibility of virus contamination from animal sources and the variation that may arise from use of serum from animal herds. 

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