Bioreactor and related methods

Abstract

To provide an apparatus for promoting the ease of manufacturing and use, while still achieving excellent cell culturing outcomes even when scaled up or down.SOLUTION: An apparatus comprises a bioreactor. The bioreactor may be modular and may include in a chamber a fixed bed, such as an unstructured or structured fixed bed (such as a spiral bed) for culturing cells, with a return column arranged centrally within the chamber. The modular bioreactor may include a plurality of structured fixed beds arranged in a stacked configuration. The modular bioreactor may include an outer casing forming a space for conditioning (e.g. insulating, heating, cooling) at least a chamber in which cells are cultured. The bioreactor may also include an impeller with radially curved blades, and may also suspend the impeller in a manner that allows side-to-side movement for alignment with an external drive.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

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