Author Archives: David Solbach

Reacting to a Pandemic: Innovations in Vaccine Development

Traditionally, viruses for vaccines have been grown in embryonated hen eggs. But new challenges introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic have encouraged and catalyzed innovations in the field of vaccine development. The biopharmaceutical industry has recognized an advantage in mammalian cell-culture systems as promising alternatives to egg-based vaccine production. Cell lines can be cultured to large quantities in bioreactors, allowing for much shorter lead times, a more controlled production process, and a higher grade of reproducibility through standardization. In this article,…

Production of Transient Lentiviral Vectors in HEK 293T Cells: Cultivation on Fibra-Cel Disks in a Single-Use, Packed-Bed, Stirred-Tank Bioreactor

Although demand for lentiviral vectors (LVs) for cell and gene therapy is increasing, the standard two-dimensional culture systems used to produce LVs present significant disadvantages. Current bottlenecks in LV production are caused mainly by such disadvantages. Switching to use of bioreactors can eliminate those problems because bioreactors offer the benefits of process automation, tight regulation of production conditions, and reduced labor input. The study reported herein was carried out by the group of David Parsons at the University of Adelaide.…