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

The complete formulation is available.

Gibco® RPMI 1640 is unique from other media because it contains the reducing agent glutathione and high concentrations of vitamins. RPMI 1640 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. Gibco® RPMI with GlutaMAX™ supplement minimizes toxic ammonia build-up and improves cell viability and growth in an easy-to-use format.

Universal Bag Packaging
Gibco® universal bags offer flexible packaging that allows you to integrate a single-use, disposable large volume media container with a wide variety of automated cell culture instruments, disposable bioreactor systems, and sterile connection processes, minimizing the need for costly customization.

Product Intended Use
For in vitro diagnostic use. CAUTION: Not for human or animal therapeutic use. Uses other than the intended use may be a violation of local law. Customers using Gibco® RPMI 1640 in a manufacturing process, who have a submission with the FDA, may request a letter of authorization from Life Technologies to reference our Type II Drug Master File (DMF).

cGMP Manufacturing and Quality System
Gibco® 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 ISO 13485 standards. For supply chain continuity, Life Technologies offers a comparable Gibco® RPMI 1640 product made in our Scotland facility (72400-021). This facility is registered with the FDA as a medical device manufacturer and is certified to the ISO 13485 standard.

RPMI 1640 contains no proteins, lipids, or growth factors. Therefore, RPMI 1640 requires supplementation, commonly with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS). RPMI 1640 uses a sodium bicarbonate buffer system (2.0 g/L) and therefore requires a 5-10% CO₂ environment to maintain physiological pH.