Advanced RPMI (Roswell Park Memorial Institute) 1640 is a widely used basal medium that allows the culture of mammalian cells with reduced Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) supplementation. Compared to classic RPMI 1640, serum supplementation can be reduced by 50-90% with no change in growth rate or morphology. Cells successfully cultured in Advanced RPMI 1640, with no adaptation, include Sp2, Vero, Raji, Daudi, and Jurkat.


The complete formulation is available.

Gibco Advanced RPMI 1640 is unique from other media due to addition of the following ingredients to allow for serum reduction: ethanolamine, glutathione, ascorbic acid, insulin, transferrin, AlbuMAX™ I lipid-rich bovine serum albumin for cell culture, and the trace elements sodium selenite, ammonium metavanadate, cupric sulfate, and manganous chloride.

Using Advanced RPMI 1640
Advanced RPMI 1640 requires supplementation with 1-5% Fetal Bovine Serum and 4mM L-glutamine or GlutaMAX supplement. Many cell lines do not require adaptation to this media. The FBS concentration must be optimized for each cell line to obtain maximum serum reduction. Advanced RPMI 1640 uses a sodium bicarbonate buffer system (3.7 g/L) and therefore requires a 5-10% CO₂ environment to maintain physiological pH.

cGMP Manufacturing and Quality System
Gibco Advanced RPMI 1640 is manufactured at a cGMP compliant facility located in Grand Island, New York. The facility is registered with the FDA as a medical device manufacturer and is certified to the ISO 13485 standards.