Manufacturing

Transfection: Past, Present, and Future

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The science behind transfection spans from calcium phosphate precipitation to newer methods that are easier to perform, more efficient, and consistent. Mirus Bio strives to perfect gene delivery to cells in culture and support different applications within the life sciences community. The company’s capabilities include RNA interference (RNAi), clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), and viral vector development for cell and gene therapies with the launch of TransIT-VirusGEN GMP transfection reagent and kits for supporting clinical and commercial adenoassociated…

August 19, 2022

A Biotech Revolution

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To celebrate the 20th anniversary of BioProcess International, Tony Hitchcock (technical director at Charles River Laboratories) participated in a supplier survey on important bioprocess innovations, technologies, and advancements over the past two decades. He has over 38 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, specifically in production of critical starting materials and complex biologics for clinical trials. What is the most important bioprocessing innovation in the past 20 years? The emergence and adoption of single-use production systems has been important…

August 19, 2022

The Changing CDMO Landscape

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Contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) have evolved from simple service providers to full partners. Such companies now offer development and end-to-end services for highly complex biologics in a transition from contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) and contract research organizations (CROs) to CDMOs. Before 2000, some drug companies (e.g., Merck, Novarits, Boehringer Ingelheim, and others) offered their excess manufacturing capacity to other drug makers. Chemical companies provided fill–finish and related services. Between 2000 and 2008, a number of dedicated CMOs emerged:…

August 16, 2022

eBook: Factors Affecting Scalability of Cell Therapies

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The number of cell and gene therapies in different phases of development is increasing. The industry currently needs to increase commercial good manufacturing practice (GMP) capacity to keep up with current and future demands. Cell and gene therapy scale-up from clinical to commercial capacity levels can reduce cost of goods and thus price per dose.  An optimized bioprocess facilitates scale-up from hundreds (clinical scale) to thousands of doses (commercial scale). Different approaches for increasing scale can be taken. For example,…

July 25, 2022

China’s First Digital mRNA Vaccine Facility: Leveraging Automation and Digitalization Solutions

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Vaccines against sudden acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are designed to elicit immune responses that prevent recipients from getting — or becoming seriously ill or dying from — novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Two available COVID-19 vaccines are based on genetically engineered messenger RNA (mRNA). After administration, such molecules give muscle cells “instructions” for how to make target proteins — e.g., the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein. Immune-system detection of those proteins prompts creation of neutralizing antibodies. Immediately upon delivery of…

June 24, 2022

Flexible Vaccine Manufacturing: Collaborations Bringing Localized Solutions

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The COVID-19 pandemic has become the most recent reminder of how accessibility to drugs and vaccines depends heavily on geographical location and a country’s economic health. Some countries continue to lack the infrastructure, regulatory support, and trained workforce necessary for establishing a viable bioindustry. Unizima, part of the Univercells Group, is a team of experts, scientists, and engineers that partners with public and private companies and other organizations to help build biomanufacturing capabilities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We…

June 24, 2022

Developing Subunit Vaccines Based on an Amphiphile Platform

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Subunit vaccines stimulate immune cells by delivering selected components of a pathogen of interest rather than the entire pathogen. Elicio Therapeutics is developing subunit vaccines that target a recipient’s lymph node to elicit a robust immune response. The vaccines are based on the company’s amphiphile (AMP) platform (Figure 1). The platform-based drug candidates are targeting cancer and COVID-19. Their development would allow the vaccine to be stored without the need for ultracold and cold storage. Below, we discuss the development…

June 24, 2022

Facing a Unique Challenge: Building an In-House Cell and Gene Therapy Manufacturing Facility During the Pandemic

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In 2019, Expression Therapeutics (ET) obtained investigational new drug (IND) approval for its lead clinical product. The third-generation lentiviral vector (LV) expresses a bioengineered coagulation factor VIII to be used in an autologous hematopoietic stem- and progenitor-cell gene therapy for patients with severe hemophilia A. Like many other emerging biotechnology companies, ET’s initial strategy used reputable contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) for vector and cell manufacturing needs and a prominent clinical contract research organization (CRO) with extensive experience in…

June 24, 2022

Multimodal Facility Design for Cell and Gene Therapies

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Cell and gene therapies (CGTs) are progressing rapidly through development pipelines and advancing through clinical trial phases. Manufacturing capacity will need to be sufficient when such products are approved for commercialization. Thus, biomanufacturers are seeking ways to leverage multimodal facilities. I spoke with Stephen Judd, who is principal process engineer for biologics and cell and gene therapy at DPS Group, an engineering and construction management consultancy. We talked about design considerations for multimodal facilities, how such facilities contribute to overall…

June 24, 2022

Elevating Your Pharmaceutical Facility to the Next Digital Plant Maturity Level

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Pharma 4.0 technologies, offshoots from the Industry 4.0 model, focus on introducing new technologies for increased levels of digitalization within the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Many companies hesitate to embrace the Pharma 4.0 concept fully even though digitalization efforts are leading the way toward new levels of efficiency and productivity. The biopharmaceutical industry currently lags behind other industries in implementing digital technologies because of its rigorous and strict regulatory requirements. Adopting Pharma 4.0 tools and concepts benefits manufacturers by harmonizing the…

June 23, 2022