More than a third of all newly approved therapeutic agents are already produced using biotechnology. These include, in particular, tailor-made antibodies to curb inflammatory reactions or fight cancer. The cultivation of antibody-producing cells places high demands on the bioprocess engineering implementation of the production process. The necessary transfer of sensitive cell cultures from small culture vessels to medium and large-scale fermentation systems is one of the most important and often most difficult aspects of biotechnology.

Bioprocess engineering represents one of the central pillars for the application-oriented training of biotechnology students. However, the high technical requirements of some bioprocesses, such as the above-mentioned scale-up of the cultivation of mammalian cells, place financial limits on practical laboratory implementation. For this reason, the largest German manufacturer of fermentation systems, Sartorius Stedim Biotech GmbH, headquartered in Göttingen, provided exhibition equipment free of charge to universities for use in teaching and research in a competitive process. Biotechnology at the Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences was one of the winners of this campaign. This summer semester, a new and refurbished BIOSTAT® B fermentation system for cultivating eukaryotic cells was put into operation for free, as even the transport costs to Zittau were covered.

The fermenter fills a large gap in the equipment available in biotechnology and will in future be used primarily for training purposes in the Bachelor's degree course in Molecular Biotechnology and the Master's degree course in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology. The device is currently being used by students on the Master's course to cultivate a hybridoma cell line for the production of monoclonal antibodies in the Bioprocess Technology practical course.

A big thank you goes to Mr. Lutz Warschofsky, the Sartorius Stedim Biotech GmbH sales representative responsible for Eastern Saxony, without whose support the donation would not have been possible.