One Hollow Fiber Platform for Your Entire Cell Culture Workflow

FiberCell Systems unites these applications on a single 3D hollow fiber perfusion platform. This platform combines high density cell culture with the CDM HD chemically defined medium and the well established Hollow Fiber Infection Model (HFIM) for antimicrobial PK/PD.

On its own website, FiberCell describes its 3D hollow fiber bioreactors as “the most in vivo like way to culture cells”

At Bio Connect, we supply the full FiberCell portfolio in Europe, from bioreactors and cartridges to media and manuals. This article gives you a clear, easy overview of everything you can do with FiberCell, and links you directly to the in depth resources already available on our website.

The FiberCell Difference: 3D Hollow Fiber & Histocentric Design

Standard 2D flasks and low density suspension cultures are built around the lab bench, not around the biology. Conditions fluctuate every time you handle cultures, and you often end up with variable quality and higher background from host cell proteins, DNA and other contaminants in the harvested supernatant.

FiberCell Systems has designed a closed, 3D hollow fiber bioreactor that:

• Supports very high density cell culture in a compact format
• Reduces contamination risk for cultures and protects operators from biohazards in a closed, biosafe system, reducing the need for antibiotics
• Continuously recirculates medium to keep nutrients, oxygen and waste levels more consistent
• Allows cells to define their own microenvironment in a more tissue like, in vivo like way

These 3D perfusion hollow fiber bioreactors transcend simple “cell centric” thinking and move towards histocentric, tissue like culture conditions. This histocentric approach underpins the entire FiberCell portfolio: production, 3D models, exosomes, and infection models all use the same core technology.

CDM HD: Chemically Defined, Protein Free Medium for High Density Culture

At the center of many applications is CDM HD, a chemically defined, protein and animal component–free serum replacement specifically optimised for high density hollow fiber culture.

Because CDM HD contains no medium derived proteins, your secreted product is often the only significant protein in the harvest. That means:

• Cleaner supernatants
• Streamlined downstream purification
• Potentially higher yields and easier cGMP compliance

CDM HD includes customised amino acids and metabolites, vitamins, cofactors, trace elements, micronutrients, extra buffering capacity, recombinant growth factors and carbohydrates (including 800 mg/L glucose), while excluding proteins, hydrolysates, animal derived components, undefined reagents, steroid hormones, phenol red and detergents.

You reconstitute one bottle to 1 L, sterile filter, and use it at 10% with your basal medium. It ships at ambient temperature, is stored at 4°C and has a three year shelf life.

Read more in our dedicated article:

Defined Medium for Cell Culture in High-Density Hollow Fiber Bioreactors

Monoclonal Antibody Production & Hybridoma Culture

FiberCell’s 3D hollow fiber bioreactors are an excellent fit for 50 mg up to gram scale monoclonal antibody production from hybridomas. In a compact, 3D perfusion system, hybridoma cells grow at very high density in an in vivo like microenvironment.

In combination with CDM HD, this setup:

• Delivers concentrated harvests where the antibody is the predominant protein
• Minimises contaminants such as such as host cell proteins, DNA, RNA, proteases and endotoxins
• Reduces or simplifies downstream purification steps
• Enables efficient scale‑up without complex process changes

This makes FiberCell highly attractive for labs that want to move beyond flasks and spinners to a more productive and cleaner antibody production workflow.

Discover more details in:

Efficient Monoclonal Antibody Production & Hybridoma Culture

Recombinant Protein Production in Mammalian Cells

Mammalian expression of recombinant proteins often suffers from low titers and inconsistent post translational modifications. FiberCell’s hollow fiber bioreactors tackle both issues:

• High density 3D culture boosts volumetric productivity
• Stable, perfused conditions support more uniform post translational modifications
• With CDM HD, the recombinant protein is typically the dominant species in the harvest, simplifying purification

You can produce tens of milligrams up to gram scale quantities of recombinant protein from mammalian expression systems in a footprint that fits into a standard cell culture lab.

Boost your Protein Production with 3D hollow fiber bioreactors

3D Co-cultivation and In Vivo Like Models

Beyond pure production, FiberCell’s hollow fiber bioreactors provide a versatile platform for 3D co cultures and long term models that better reflect in vivo physiology.

Cells grow at high density on a porous support inside the fibers. The molecular weight cut off of the fibers allows exchange of nutrients and waste while concentrating secreted factors. This supports:

• Prolonged culture over weeks to months, without frequent passaging
• Complex cell–cell interactions and self‑organisation in 3D
• In vitro models that are closer to tissue physiology than flat cultures

Example applications include:

• Blood–brain barrier models
• Bone marrow stroma models
• Endothelial cells under shear stress
• Placenta co‑culture models for MSC precursors
• In vitro toxicology assays

Parasites such as Cryptosporidium, Babesia bigmena and malaria sporozoites have also been cultured in these systems, showcasing their value in parasitology and infection research.

3D Hollow Fiber Bioreactors for Co-cultivation & Research

Advanced Exosome and Extracellular Vesicle Production

Exosomes and extracellular vesicles (EVs) are central to many regenerative medicine and immunology projects, but production at scale and without serum contamination is difficult.

FiberCell’s 3D hollow fiber bioreactors offer:

• A 3D perfusion environment that closely mimics in vivo conditions
• Long term perfusion culture with daily harvesting over weeks to months
• Use of protein free CDM HD, enabling EV and exosome production free from contaminating serum derived vesicles

This technology has been applied to mesenchymal stem cells, human amniotic fluid stem cells, 293 cells, primary cancer cell lines and natural killer cells, including work on NK cell derived EVs for cancer immunotherapy.

Read more in:

Advanced Exosome Production Technology from FiberCell Systems

HFIM: Hollow Fiber Infection Model for Antimicrobial PK/PD and AMR

In antimicrobial drug development and AMR research, FiberCell’s Hollow Fiber Infection Model (HFIM) is a powerful in vitro system based on the same hollow fiber technology.

HFIM uses hollow fiber cartridges in a two compartment setup that:

• More accurately simulates human pharmacokinetics than static models
• Allows dynamic, time‑dependent control of antibiotic concentration, including extreme dosing
• Retains bacteria and cells while perfusing drug and nutrients
• Enables repetitive sampling for detailed time‑course PK/PD and resistance studies

Because the system is closed and bio‑safe, it is suitable for highly pathogenic and drug‑resistant organisms. At the same time, it can significantly reduce the need for animal testing while modelling absorption, excretion and metabolic profiles that closely mimic human half‑life.

Learn more in our two focused articles:

Histocentric Principles and Less Hands On Work

FiberCell describes its hollow fiber bioreactors as histocentric: designed around tissue like physiology rather than operator convenience. In practice this gives you:

• A completely closed system that protects cells from contamination and operators from biohazards
• Large media reservoirs and active recirculation for consistent nutrient and waste profiles
• Reduced handling and fewer incubator door openings, keeping conditions stable
• Long‑term continuous culture at high density, without the need for routine passaging

Maintenance can drop to around 15 minutes a day, while secreted products are often 10–100x more concentrated with lower host cell protein and DNA contamination. Fiber geometry mimics the mammalian capillary bed, enabling true 3D perfusion and co cultivation.

Hollow Fiber Bioreactors: Applying Histocentric Principles

FiberCell’s Cell Culture Manual: All Protocols in One Place

To make implementation easier, FiberCell has compiled a Cell Culture Manual packed with updated protocols for:

• Hybridoma culture and monoclonal antibody production
• Recombinant protein production
• Co‑cultivation and 3D cell culture
• Mesenchymal stem cell culture
• Exosome and EV production

It distils decades of 3D hollow fiber expertise into a single guide, ideal as both an introduction and an optimisation resource.

Start Here For the Full FiberCell Portfolio

This overview article is your entry point to the entire FiberCell Systems portfolio:

• One platform for high‑density monoclonal antibody and recombinant protein production
• Scalable exosome and extracellular vesicle manufacturing
• Advanced 3D co‑cultures and in vivo‑like disease models
• The Hollow Fiber Infection Model (HFIM) for antimicrobial PK/PD and AMR research
• Supported by CDM‑HD chemically defined medium and a comprehensive Cell Culture Manual

From here, you can click through to each individual topic for technical details, downloads and protocols, and easily see how FiberCell Systems can fit into your cell culture, bioproduction or AMR workflows.