Luveris (INN lutropin alfa) is a sterile lyophilized powder composed of recombinant human luteinizing hormone, r-hLH. r-hLH is a heterodimeric glycoprotein consisting of two non-covalently linked subunits (designated α and β) of 92 and 121 amino acids, respectively. The carbohydrate chain attachment to the r-hLH protein core occurs via N- but not O-linkage. The N-glycosylation sites are Asn-52 and Asn-78 for the α–subunit and Asn-30 for the β–subunit. The β-chain has an N-glycosylation site and its structure and glycosylation pattern are very similar to that of pituitary-derived hLH. The production process involves expansion of genetically modified Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells from an extensively characterized cell bank into large scale cell culture processing.