Recombinant proteins are an essential component of many vaccines. However, producing these crucial proteins can be challenging. From selecting the appropriate expression system to optimizing fermentation and purification processes, there are many factors to consider when designing a process to make high-quality proteins that can be used for vaccine development.
Overnight success is often the result of years of effort and setbacks, which could be the life story of an mRNA pioneer, Dr. Katalin Karikó, now with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Karikó spent decades focusing her research on how mRNA could be used for therapies, which ultimately helped lead to the development of COVID-19 vaccines.
For decades, the cell and gene therapy industry has been using the same plasmid technology in vaccination, cell and gene therapy, and as a raw material in viral vector and RNA production. In some cases, that technology isn’t a good fit for the processes where it’s being used. Now, with the growing popularity of Nanoplasmid™ vectors, that is starting to change.
When mRNA vaccines began to roll out in late 2020 to fight the COVID pandemic, it was the first large-scale use of the molecule after years of research. But the success of those vaccines was only the beginning of new opportunities for the RNA field.
Managing the H1N1 outbreak in 2009 was considered a practice run for the recent SARS-CoV2 pandemic and, over the last two years, we certainly learned a great deal in being prepared for the next virus to gain a foothold. That was the backdrop as we returned to the World Vaccine Congress in Washington, DC.
Nate Spangler, Ph.D., Director of Innovation & Strategy at Aldevron discusses the challenges of manufacturing mRNA under the increased demand and helpful strategies to solve them.
Nate was interviewed by Michael Dunnet for TIDES TV.
This was a significant month for our industry, and for the world. Vaccine development has been around in some form for centuries, but this month revealed groundbreaking transformations in controlling a global pandemic.
