Supporting scalable, space-efficient cell culture workflows for biotech and biopharma laboratories

Cell culture plays a critical role in bioprocessing workflows, from transient protein expression and process development through to early-stage production. As projects scale, laboratories are often challenged by limited shaker capacity, inconsistent aeration, and the need to maintain reproducible growth conditions across different culture volumes.

We work with technology providers that help biotech, biopharma, and cell & gene therapy teams improve efficiency without compromising performance. One example is the Optimum Growth® Flask range from Thomson Instrument Company – a scalable shake flask system designed for mammalian and insect cell culture applications.

Optimised Design for Reliable Cell Growth

Traditional shake flasks typically limit working volumes to around one-third of total flask capacity, reducing effective use of shaker space and creating challenges around oxygen transfer and culture consistency.

Optimum Growth® Flasks are designed to support working volumes of approximately 40–50% or higher across flask sizes ranging from 125 mL to 7 L. This enables laboratories to culture higher volumes within the same incubator footprint, improving operational efficiency without increasing equipment demand.

The flasks incorporate proprietary internal baffles engineered to promote high aeration while maintaining low shear conditions, supporting healthy cell growth and viability. Each flask also features a 0.2 µm vented cap for sterile gas exchange throughout the culture process.

Improving Space Efficiency and Culture Performance

The Optimum Growth® range allows users to scale culture volumes while maintaining a consistent platform approach, supporting smoother process development and more reproducible scale-up workflows.

Higher working volumes also help laboratories maximise shaker and incubator capacity – particularly valuable in high-throughput or space-constrained environments.

Published Thomson application data showed that a single 5 L Optimum Growth® Flask with a 3 L working volume produced an average 214% increase in protein production across eight insect cell clones compared with two conventional 3 L flasks using a combined 4 L working volume, while reducing shaker space requirements by 50%.

Additional Thomson studies evaluating Expi® HEK293 cultures demonstrated that a 7 L Optimum Growth® Flask operating at a 5 L working volume achieved comparable growth performance to a 5 L flask at 2.5 L, while doubling culture capacity within the same footprint. Thomson also reports the ability to achieve up to 35 L of expression per shaker using 7 L flask configurations for CHO, HEK293, and insect cell applications.

These gains can help teams improve shaker utilisation, reduce consumable use, and simplify scale-up activities without compromising growth conditions for CHO, HEK293, or insect cell cultures.

Why It Matters for Bioprocess Development

For biotech and biopharma teams, improvements at the cell culture stage can have a significant downstream impact. More efficient use of shaker space, reproducible culture performance, and scalable formats can contribute to:

• Faster process development workflows
• Reduced consumable usage and operational costs
• Improved consistency during scale-up
• More efficient use of laboratory infrastructure

In biotherapeutic development and cell therapy workflows, maintaining consistency from early-stage development through to production-relevant scales is essential. Flexible culture systems that support reproducibility can help reduce variability and streamline workflow progression.

Supporting Efficient, Reproducible Cell Culture

As laboratories continue to balance throughput, scalability, and reproducibility, shake flask design remains an important consideration in upstream workflow optimisation. Systems such as Optimum Growth® Flasks provide a practical approach to increasing culture capacity while supporting the performance requirements of mammalian and insect cell culture applications.

To learn more about Optimum Growth Flasks and how they may support your workflow requirements, contact us for further information or application guidance.