As TNCbio’s serum replacement Xerum-free can be universally applied to all types of cell cultures, there are no limitations regarding possible applications.

However, there are a number of specific fields where immediate benefits  can be expected:

In vitro testing
In Vitro testing of chemical compounds, cosmetic raw materials and finished compounds, consumer products testing in general. And above all during the development of new In Vitro testing methods and models.

In the arena of In Vitro testing, the influences and interferences of serum compounds, especially plasma proteins, growth factors etc. are highly undesirable, as they can bias results and lead to false negative and false positive results. 

The European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM), the European Commission’s body that officially validates In Vitro testing methods submitted by third parties, made this very clear in a statement through its Advisory Committee ESAC (Statement on the use of FCS and other animal-derived supplements). In this statement it is made clear that new test methods in development should avoid the use of animal sera and animal components wherever possible. A point is made also on the non-ethical aspects related to FBS.

Biopharmaceutical research and production
Biopharmaceutical research and production, such as monoclonal antibody production, vaccines, recombinant therapeutic protein production.

The direct benefits in this important field are the regulatory friendly aspects of serum-free cultures because of infectious risk mitigation and the far-reaching cost reduction aspects in the downstream processes (highly reduced purification processes, see for example theLampireBiological Laboratories study “Serum-Free Cell Culture Can Cost Less: Simplify MAb Production by Eliminating Contaminating IgG and Reducing Cost”(via this link and a webinar via this link).

Drug and preclinical research
Drug discovery research, preclinical research: there is a need for highly defined In Vitro models during the drug discovery and development stages, because serum interferences can again falsify results resulting in false positive “hits” and “leads” as well as high background noise during preclinical In Vitro ADMET studies. Also in this field, the regulator wants to see clear cut data, preferably generated in highly defined study models and platforms. In this sense it is recommended to avoid any interferences from FBS or other animal compounds.

Stem cell cultures
Stem cell research, embryonic or other types of stem cell cultures, induced pluripotent stem cells: this fast paced evolving fields are hindered in all senses by the presence of serum and animal compounds in the culture media, above all when it comes down to the point of bringing stem cell-based therapies to the clinic. Also interferences with FBS during the differentiation processes must be avoided.