Puerto Rico is leading COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the United States, with 89.7% of adults already fully vaccinated (1). However, many other regions are struggling to gain that level of traction, if any. Less than 1% of people in developing countries are fully vaccinated (2). Because Pfizer–BioNTech’s and Moderna’s respective mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines still require ultracold temperatures for long-term storage, vaccine distribution in remote locations is arduous without appropriate cold-chain infrastructure. Puerto Rico’s success in vaccinating its population demonstrates how…
Vaccines
Lymphocyte Activation Gene 3 in Immunooncology: A Soluble Protein Alternative
Early in 2021 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO’s) annual meeting, attendees witnessed the first validation of a novel checkpoint target: lymphocyte activation gene 3 (LAG-3). Bristol Myers Squibb’s (BMS’s) recent success in a phase 3 study of the relatlimab anti-LAG-3 monoclonal antibody (MAb) proved that the combination of LAG-3 and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) is more effective than the standard of care in first-line metastatic melanoma (1). For about seven years, that standard has been…
Designing Vaccines: The Role of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Health, Part 2
In BPI’s October 2021 issue, part one of this review introduced the concepts of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), identifying some broad areas of application within vaccine discovery, preclinical testing, and clinical studies. This month, we conclude with a detailed discussion of specific disease targets and AI’s potential in addressing them. Having highlighted the example of Zika virus in part one, below we focus on malaria, tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), herpesvirus, hepatitis, and pandemic coronavirus. Malaria Malaria…
eBook: Vaccines Revisited — The Past, Present, and Future of Nucleic-Acid Vaccine Production
The quarterly BioProcess Insider eBook series launched in 2021 to investigate specific modalities and business strategies driving the biopharmaceutical sector based upon trends and discussion points presented in the Insider’s pages. Two of the four quarterly publications — this one included — have focused on the vaccine industry. If the series had launched in 2019, cell and gene therapies might have warranted a double edition, or perhaps investments in antibodies and antibody fragments would have driven a bispecific focus. Five…
Designing Vaccines: The Role of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Health, Part 1
According to the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, the fourth industrial revolution began in the 21st century and is characterized by an unprecedented development and exponential growth of a high-technology industry transforming society at every level (1–4). In particular, healthcare systems are evolving rapidly to adapt to the new reality. According to Forbes, the main technologies currently shifting the paradigm of medical research are artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) (5), both defined…
The Next COVID Challenge: Building an Arsenal of Vaccines
For months, international partners have pressured the United States about intellectual property (IP) concerns and access to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. As the country emerges from the worst of the pandemic, President Joe Biden now has an opportunity to shift his administration’s focus to realizing its longstanding promise of making the United States “the arsenal of vaccines for the world†(1). However, the country cannot accomplish that goal just by exporting mRNA vaccines and waiving IP protections. The current generation of vaccines…
High Virus-Titer–Producing Cell Lines for Bioproduction
Antiviral vaccines are essential for preventing epidemic disease. However, production of them often is limited by low-yielding manufacturing processes. Similarly, the development of gene therapies is constrained during the production of adenoassociated virus (AAV) delivery platforms for gene transfer. To address the need for efficient viral synthesis to quicken the pace of bioproduction, ATCC used CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing technology to develop STAT1 and BAX knockout (STAT1 BAX KO) cell lines to produce high-titer viral stocks. Three cell lines optimized for virus…
eBook: mRNA — Revisiting a Technology That Has Rocketed into Success
At the end of 2018, BPI published its first eBook about mRNA drug products — and quite a lot has happened since then! Our initial report highlighted companies working on mRNA therapeutics for cystic fibrosis, heart disease, and cancer, as well as vaccines. The latter approach took off in 2020 with the advent of SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic, and in a stunningly short time, the biopharmaceutical industry has learned much about manufacture, formulation, product design, and distribution of mRNA…
How Capacitance Measurement Can Improve Viral Vector and Virus-Based Vaccine Production
With the increasing development of viral vector and virus-based vaccines, technologies that help to manufacture and scale up these types of vaccine quickly and cost-effectively have become more critical. By accessing this special report from Aditya Bhat, a capacitance technology expert at Aber Instruments, you will find out how in-line capacitance measurement can produce a detailed fingerprint of cell culture processes and how that can benefit vaccine production. From case studies involving baculovirus, AAV, and measles, you will discover why…
eBook: Vaccines — COVID-19 Invigorates a Stagnant Industry
The SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus has galvanized what was a stagnant and oligopoly-run vaccine industry. In this inaugural BioProcess Insider eBook, the first of four to be published in 2021, founding editor Dan Stanton explores economic and technical conditions that until now have hampered innovation in vaccine development and discouraged market entry for emerging biotechnology companies. Leveraging commentary from vaccine industry experts and analyzing the range of emerging vaccine modalities, Stanton surveys how industry responses to the COVID-19 pandemic are fostering…