Bovine calf serum is a cost-effective alternative to Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS). It is often used with robust cell lines when large quantities of serum are needed such as in the manufacturing of biological drugs and vaccines. Bovine calf serum is derived from calves that are aged from 20 days up to 12 months. It has very high levels of transferrin, which allows for iron fortification to levels of more than three times greater than normal FBS. Iron is essential for cell respiration and metabolism and for some cell lines, makes up for the lower levels of growth factors and other metabolites found in calf serum when compared to FBS.
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Sera Processing
Using industry leading techniques, blood is aseptically collected at abattoirs, centrifuged to isolate the serum and immediately frozen for testing and further processing. The raw sera is then true pooled and is triple 0.1 micron sterile filtered with a Sterility Assurance Level (SAL) of 10-3. Every lot then must pass USP <71> and EP 2.6.1 sterility testing, growth promotion testing, as well as test negative for mycoplasma and number of industry-monitored viruses. Additional testing includes endotoxin, hemoglobin, pH, osmolality, total protein, and a biochemical profile that contains various metals, proteins, hormones, and other metabolites.
EDQM Certificates of Suitability
Bovine Calf Serum, United States Origin
This product has been granted a Certificate of Suitability, R0-CEP 2018-305, by the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines (EDQM) certifying that the product meets the criteria described in the current version of the monograph no. 1483 of the European Pharmacopoeia “Product with risk of transmitting agent of animal spongiform encephalopathies.”