RPMI 1640 Medium was originally developed to culture human leukemic cells in suspension and as a monolayer. Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) 1640 Medium has since been found suitable for a variety of mammalian cells, including HeLa, Jurkat, MCF-7, PC12, PBMC, astrocytes, and carcinomas. We offer a variety of RPMI 1640 Medium modifications for a range of cell culture applications. Find the right formulation using the media selector tool.


The complete formulation is available.

Using RPMI
RPMI 1640 Medium is unique from other media because it contains the reducing agent glutathione and high concentrations of vitamins. RPMI 1640 Medium contains biotin, vitamin B₁₂, and PABA, which are not found in Eagle's Minimal Essential Medium or Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium. In addition, the vitamins inositol and choline are present in very high concentrations. RPMI 1640 Medium contains no proteins, lipids, or growth factors. Therefore, RPMI 1640 Medium requires supplementation, commonly with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS). RPMI 1640 Medium uses a sodium bicarbonate buffer system (2.0 g/L), and therefore requires a 5–10% CO₂ environment to maintain physiological pH.

Customers using Gibco™ RPMI 1640 in a manufacturing process, who have a submission with the FDA, may request a letter of authorization from us to reference our Type II Drug Master File (DMF).

cGMP manufacturing and quality system
RPMI 1640 Medium is manufactured at a cGMP-compliant facility located in Paisley, Scotland, UK. The facility is registered with the FDA as a medical device manufacturer and is certified to the ISO 13485 standard. For supply chain continuity, we offer an identical RPMI 1640 product made in our Grand Island facility (21870-092). This facility is registered with the FDA as a medical device manufacturer and is certified to the ISO 13485 standards.