Abstract: To overcome the drawback of complex structure and foaming aeration of available fixed-bed bioreactor, a simple structure fixed-bed bioreactor with bubble free aeration was developed. The mixing time, kLa, cell distribution and cell capture ability of the reactor were tested. Then, the bioreactor was inoculated with Vero cells in low density to produce pseudorabies virus. The results showed that the mixing time and kLa of this bioreactor were comparable to that of STR. Also, the bioreactor showed good cell capture ability and homogeneous distribution. Vero cells grew well in this bioreactor with low cell inoculum density, and the cumulative virus particles on the 5th day post infection reached 10.37 log10 TCID50, corresponding to 2.3×105 doses of vaccine. This research could provide new bioreactor and technology for cell-based vaccine production.

Key words: fixed-bed bioreactor, Vero cells, pseudorabies virus, low cell inoculum density, vaccine