Large-scale production of monoclonal antibodies in dialysis tubing.

A simple procedure for the large-scale production of monoclonal antibodies has been developed. Hybridomas were grown in dialysis tubing containing medium with a low concentration of proteins. The dialysis tubing was inserted into a flask with medium containing 10% or 30% foetal calf serum. The flask was placed on a roller and medium was changed every other day. Monoclonal antibodies were harvested after about 10 days in culture. Immunoglobulin concentrations up to 5.4 mg/ml and cell yields of 85 X 10(6) cells/ml have been obtained. The low concentration of contaminating low molecular weight proteins in the supernatant from cells grown in dialysis tubing facilitated purification of the monoclonal antibodies.