P. pastoris has a relatively high growth rate and can obtain a high cell density and recombinant expression level.
The yeast is a suitable host for producing both recombinant intracellular and extracellular proteins since it has a good secretion system enabling the formation of disulfide bridges. However, when scaling up the expression conditions in cell cultures one should be aware of the high metabolic heat and oxygen demand required by this yeast.
As a eukaryotic organism, P. pastoris can do simple protein glycosylation and several other post-translational modifications known from other eukaryotic cells.