BOSTON MA — 908 Devices Inc. (Nasdaq: MASS), a pioneer of handheld and desktop devices for chemical and biochemical analysis, today announced the launch of MAVEN, a device for on-line monitoring and control of glucose and lactate in cell culture and fermentation processes. MAVEN empowers biopharma companies to make timely decisions based on highly sensitive, real-time measurements. Taking measurements as frequently as every two minutes, MAVEN operates without having to manually draw samples out of the bioreactor due to its novel aseptic sampling approach. This improves process understanding, saves operator time and reduces the risk of process contamination--which in turn accelerates development workflows.
For biopharmaceutical process development scientists who seek to optimize cell culture and fermentation processes to improve product yield, quality, efficacy, and safety, MAVEN provides highly precise, on-line monitoring of glucose and lactate without any loss of bioreactor volume. This enables real-time control of substrate feeding to maintain optimal nutrient and metabolite concentrations, even at very low levels. MAVEN is used in concert with the company’s REBEL device, an at-line cell culture media analyzer that quantitates over 30 additional key media nutrients in less than 10 minutes.
“While biologics and cell and gene therapies have proven their ability to make huge advances in human health, costs remain high due to time-intensive processes,” said Dr. Wolfgang Künnecke, VP of Bioanalytics R&D, 908 Devices. “We are working diligently to develop solutions to enhance process understanding and aid in control. Specifically for glucose and lactate, we are providing precision measurements that preserve sample integrity and have low limits of detection. Together MAVEN and REBEL can be used to improve and optimize cell culture feeding strategies with clarity, control, and ease.”
As an on-line device, MAVEN is a critical part of the bioprocessing workflow. MAVEN is GMP compliant, takes up a small footprint in any lab and is incredibly easy to use. In addition, MAVEN’s ability to precisely monitor concentrations even at very low levels, 0.01 g/L of glucose and 0.05 g/L of lactate, makes it particularly beneficial to cell therapy applications where tight control of cell culture conditions is vital.
“As more advanced therapies enter the pipeline there is an increasing need for simple, automated on-line devices like MAVEN for measuring and monitoring process and product attributes,” said Dr. Kevin J. Knopp, CEO and co-founder, 908 Devices. “MAVEN’s incorporated aseptic sampling probe serves as an interface for future on-line analyzers as we broaden our bioanalytics platform and develop an ecosystem of connected, on-line tools.”