Sartorius Stedim Biotech Launches UniVessel® SU Single-Use Bioreactor for Small-Scale Cell Culture Applications

Sartorius Stedim Biotech, a leading supplier of the biopharmaceutical industry, launches UniVessel® SU, a single-use bioreactor with 2 L working volume. UniVessel® SU is suitable for mammalian, insect and plant cell culture. Typical applications range from small-scale protein expression to media or process optimization studies. UniVessel® SU is irradiated prior to delivery and ready-to-use out of the box. It is designed to the same safety standards which are required for classical multi-use bioreactors. The complete culture vessel is disposed after use thus reducing cleaning time and eliminating autoclaving and re-installation hassle as well as the risk of cross-contamination.

Design of UniVessel® SU

The single-use culture vessel with 2L maximum working volume includes everything to get started immediately. It is perfectly suitable for cell culture applications in research, development and production. The single-use vessel can be connected to all Sartorius BIOSTAT® benchtop bioreactor controllers as well as other controllers for conventional glass reactors. When working with existing systems, classical pH and DO sensors as well as Pt100 temperature probes can be inserted via top plate ports.

Made of USP class VI conform polycarbonate, the UniVessel® SU includes several ports for media addition, sampling, harvesting as well as spare ports for insertion of classical sensors or other equipment suitable for pg 13,5 ports. 3-blade segment impellers and a L-sparger provide optimal conditions for use in cell culture applications. The torospherical bottom as well as the height / diameter ratio of the UniVessel® SU are similar to the design of the classical glass UniVessel®. All tubings for media transfer are made of thermoweldable tubing and feature common Luer or MPC connectors for fast and easy connection to peripheral equipment. Four feet at the vessel bottom provide for a secure stand of the vessel when handled, for example, under a laminar flow cabinet.

Additionally, the vessel comes with a stainless steel vessel holder for a safe support stand when the vessel is in operation. Midisart® BV air filters for sparger and overlay inlet as well as the gas outlet provide sterile operation conditions over a long period of time. Temperature control is performed by a heating blanket and a filter heater is included to ensure long operation times of the exhaust filter.

Single-use from vessel to sensor

Single-use sensors for optical measurement of pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) are available and allow for easy, safe and contamination-free measurement together with the BIOSTAT® B-DCU II benchtop controller.

All single-use sensors are pre-calibrated. The calibration data are displayed as barcode on the vessel label and can be transferred via a barcode reader directly into the BIOSTAT® B-DCU II controller. Already used in other single-use cell culture devices by Sartorius Stedim Biotech, this well-known principle of non-invasive pH and DO measurement is now also available with small-scale single-use bioreactors.