1
|
Raza H, Tang T, Gao B, Phuangthong C, Chen CB, Pinto NDS. Evaluation of various membranes at different fluxes to enable large-volume single-use perfusion bioreactors. Biotechnol Bioeng 2024; 121:2678-2690. [PMID: 38702962 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2024] [Accepted: 04/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024]
Abstract
The growing demand for biological therapeutics has increased interest in large-volume perfusion bioreactors, but the operation and scalability of perfusion membranes remain a challenge. This study evaluates perfusion cell culture performance and monoclonal antibody (mAb) productivity at various membrane fluxes (1.5-5 LMH), utilizing polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), polyethersulfone (PES), or polysulfone (PS) membranes in tangential flow filtration mode. At low flux, culture with PVDF membrane maintained higher cell culture growth, permeate titer (1.06-1.34 g/L) and sieving coefficients (≥83%) but showed lower permeate volumetric throughput and higher transmembrane pressure (TMP) (>1.50 psi) in the later part of the run compared to cultures with PES and PS membrane. However, as permeate flux increased, the total mass of product decreased by around 30% for cultures with PVDF membrane, while it remained consistent with PES and PS membrane, and at the highest flux studied, PES membrane generated 12% more product than PVDF membrane. This highlights that membrane selection for large-volume perfusion bioreactors depends on the productivity and permeate flux required. Since operating large-volume perfusion bioreactors at low flux would require several cell retention devices and a complex setup, PVDF membranes are suitable for low-volume operations at low fluxes whereas PES membranes can be a desirable alternative for large-volume higher demand products at higher fluxes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hassan Raza
- Biologics Process Research & Development, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Tiffany Tang
- Biologics Process Research & Development, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Baizhen Gao
- Biologics Process Research & Development, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Chelsea Phuangthong
- Biologics Process Research & Development, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA
| | | | - Nuno D S Pinto
- Biologics Process Research & Development, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Wan B, Patel M, Zhou G, Olma M, Bieri M, Mueller M, Appiah-Amponsah E, Patel B, Jayapal K. Robust platform for inline Raman monitoring and control of perfusion cell culture. Biotechnol Bioeng 2024; 121:1688-1701. [PMID: 38393313 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
Perfusion cell culture has been gaining increasing popularity for biologics manufacturing due to benefits such as smaller footprint, increased productivity, consistent product quality and manufacturing flexibility, cost savings, and so forth. Process Analytics Technologies tools are highly desirable for effective monitoring and control of long-running perfusion processes. Raman has been widely investigated for monitoring and control of traditional fed batch cell culture process. However, implementation of Raman for perfusion cell culture has been very limited mainly due to challenges with high-cell density and long running times during perfusion which cause extremely high fluorescence interference to Raman spectra and consequently it is exceedingly difficult to develop robust chemometrics models. In this work, a platform based on Raman measurement of permeate has been proposed for effective analysis of perfusion process. It has been demonstrated that this platform can effectively circumvent the fluorescence interference issue while providing rich and timely information about perfusion dynamics to enable efficient process monitoring and robust bioreactor feed control. With the highly consistent spectral data from cell-free sample matrix, development of chemometrics models can be greatly facilitated. Based on this platform, Raman models have been developed for good measurement of several analytes including glucose, lactate, glutamine, glutamate, and permeate titer. Performance of Raman models developed this way has been systematically evaluated and the models have shown good robustness against changes in perfusion scale and variations in permeate flowrate; thus models developed from small lab scale can be directly transferred for implementation in much larger scale of perfusion. With demonstrated robustness, this platform provides a reliable approach for automated glucose feed control in perfusion bioreactors. Glucose model developed from small lab scale has been successfully implemented for automated continuous glucose feed control of perfusion cell culture at much larger scale.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Boyong Wan
- Analytical Research & Development, Merck & Co. Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA
| | - Misaal Patel
- Bioprocess Research & Development, Merck & Co. Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA
| | - George Zhou
- Global Vaccine and Biologics Commercialization, Merck & Co. Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA
| | - Michael Olma
- Analytical Research & Development, Werthenstein Biopharma GmbH, MSD, Werthenstein, Switzerland
| | - Marco Bieri
- Analytical Research & Development, Werthenstein Biopharma GmbH, MSD, Werthenstein, Switzerland
| | - Marvin Mueller
- Analytical Research & Development, Werthenstein Biopharma GmbH, MSD, Werthenstein, Switzerland
| | | | - Bhumit Patel
- Analytical Research & Development, Merck & Co. Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA
| | - Karthik Jayapal
- Bioprocess Research & Development, Merck & Co. Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Tatarūnas V, Čiapienė I, Giedraitienė A. Precise Therapy Using the Selective Endogenous Encapsidation for Cellular Delivery Vector System. Pharmaceutics 2024; 16:292. [PMID: 38399346 PMCID: PMC10893373 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16020292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Interindividual variability in drug response is a major problem in the prescription of pharmacological treatments. The therapeutic effect of drugs can be influenced by human genes. Pharmacogenomic guidelines for individualization of treatment have been validated and used for conventional dosage forms. However, drugs can often target non-specific areas and produce both desired and undesired pharmacological effects. The use of nanoparticles, liposomes, or other available forms for drug formulation could help to overcome the latter problem. Virus-like particles based on retroviruses could be a potential envelope for safe and efficient drug formulations. Human endogenous retroviruses would make it possible to overcome the host immune response and deliver drugs to the desired target. PEG10 is a promising candidate that can bind to mRNA because it is secreted like an enveloped virus-like extracellular vesicle. PEG10 is a retrotransposon-derived gene that has been domesticated. Therefore, formulations with PEG10 may have a lower immunogenicity. The use of existing knowledge can lead to the development of suitable drug formulations for the precise treatment of individual diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vacis Tatarūnas
- Institute of Cardiology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Sukileliu 15, LT 50103 Kaunas, Lithuania; (V.T.); (I.Č.)
| | - Ieva Čiapienė
- Institute of Cardiology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Sukileliu 15, LT 50103 Kaunas, Lithuania; (V.T.); (I.Č.)
| | - Agnė Giedraitienė
- Institute of Microbiology and Virology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eiveniu 4, LT 50161 Kaunas, Lithuania
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Romann P, Giller P, Sibilia A, Herwig C, Zydney AL, Perilleux A, Souquet J, Bielser JM, Villiger TK. Co-current filtrate flow in TFF perfusion processes: Decoupling transmembrane pressure from crossflow to improve product sieving. Biotechnol Bioeng 2024; 121:640-654. [PMID: 37965698 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/22/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
Abstract
Hollow fiber-based membrane filtration has emerged as the dominant technology for cell retention in perfusion processes yet significant challenges in alleviating filter fouling remain unsolved. In this work, the benefits of co-current filtrate flow applied to a tangential flow filtration (TFF) module to reduce or even completely remove Starling recirculation caused by the axial pressure drop within the module was studied by pressure characterization experiments and perfusion cell culture runs. Additionally, a novel concept to achieve alternating Starling flow within unidirectional TFF was investigated. Pressure profiles demonstrated that precise flow control can be achieved with both lab-scale and manufacturing-scale filters. TFF systems with co-current flow showed up to 40% higher product sieving compared to standard TFF. The decoupling of transmembrane pressure from crossflow velocity and filter characteristics in co-current TFF alleviates common challenges for hollow fiber-based systems such as limited crossflow rates and relatively short filter module lengths, both of which are currently used to avoid extensive pressure drop along the filtration module. Therefore, co-current filtrate flow in unidirectional TFF systems represents an interesting and scalable alternative to standard TFF or alternating TFF operation with additional possibilities to control Starling recirculation flow.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Romann
- School of Life Science, Institute for Pharma Technology, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Muttenz, Switzerland
- Research Division Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
| | - Philip Giller
- School of Life Science, Institute for Pharma Technology, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Muttenz, Switzerland
| | | | - Christoph Herwig
- Research Division Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
| | - Andrew L Zydney
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Arnaud Perilleux
- Biotech Process Science, Merck Serono SA (an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland
| | - Jonathan Souquet
- Biotech Process Science, Merck Serono SA (an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland
| | - Jean-Marc Bielser
- Biotech Process Science, Merck Serono SA (an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland
| | - Thomas K Villiger
- School of Life Science, Institute for Pharma Technology, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Muttenz, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Chauhan S, Khasa YP. Challenges and Opportunities in the Process Development of Chimeric Vaccines. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:1828. [PMID: 38140232 PMCID: PMC10747103 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11121828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 07/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Vaccines are integral to human life to protect them from life-threatening diseases. However, conventional vaccines often suffer limitations like inefficiency, safety concerns, unavailability for non-culturable microbes, and genetic variability among pathogens. Chimeric vaccines combine multiple antigen-encoding genes of similar or different microbial strains to protect against hyper-evolving drug-resistant pathogens. The outbreaks of dreadful diseases have led researchers to develop economical chimeric vaccines that can cater to a large population in a shorter time. The process development begins with computationally aided omics-based approaches to design chimeric vaccines. Furthermore, developing these vaccines requires optimizing upstream and downstream processes for mass production at an industrial scale. Owing to the complex structures and complicated bioprocessing of evolving pathogens, various high-throughput process technologies have come up with added advantages. Recent advancements in high-throughput tools, process analytical technology (PAT), quality-by-design (QbD), design of experiments (DoE), modeling and simulations, single-use technology, and integrated continuous bioprocessing have made scalable production more convenient and economical. The paradigm shift to innovative strategies requires significant attention to deal with major health threats at the global scale. This review outlines the challenges and emerging avenues in the bioprocess development of chimeric vaccines.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Yogender Pal Khasa
- Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi 110021, India;
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Rahban M, Ahmad F, Piatyszek MA, Haertlé T, Saso L, Saboury AA. Stabilization challenges and aggregation in protein-based therapeutics in the pharmaceutical industry. RSC Adv 2023; 13:35947-35963. [PMID: 38090079 PMCID: PMC10711991 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra06476j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Protein-based therapeutics have revolutionized the pharmaceutical industry and become vital components in the development of future therapeutics. They offer several advantages over traditional small molecule drugs, including high affinity, potency and specificity, while demonstrating low toxicity and minimal adverse effects. However, the development and manufacturing processes of protein-based therapeutics presents challenges related to protein folding, purification, stability and immunogenicity that should be addressed. These proteins, like other biological molecules, are prone to chemical and physical instabilities. The stability of protein-based drugs throughout the entire manufacturing, storage and delivery process is essential. The occurrence of structural instability resulting from misfolding, unfolding, and modifications, as well as aggregation, poses a significant risk to the efficacy of these drugs, overshadowing their promising attributes. Gaining insight into structural alterations caused by aggregation and their impact on immunogenicity is vital for the advancement and refinement of protein therapeutics. Hence, in this review, we have discussed some features of protein aggregation during production, formulation and storage as well as stabilization strategies in protein engineering and computational methods to prevent aggregation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mahdie Rahban
- Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences Kerman Iran
| | - Faizan Ahmad
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Chemical & Life Sciences, Jamia Hamdard New Delhi-110062 India
| | | | | | - Luciano Saso
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology "Vittorio Erspamer", Sapienza University Rome Italy
| | - Ali Akbar Saboury
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Tehran Tehran 1417614335 Iran +9821 66404680 +9821 66956984
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Drobnjakovic M, Hart R, Kulvatunyou BS, Ivezic N, Srinivasan V. Current challenges and recent advances on the path towards continuous biomanufacturing. Biotechnol Prog 2023; 39:e3378. [PMID: 37493037 DOI: 10.1002/btpr.3378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Revised: 05/13/2023] [Accepted: 06/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023]
Abstract
Continuous biopharmaceutical manufacturing is currently a field of intense research due to its potential to make the entire production process more optimal for the modern, ever-evolving biopharmaceutical market. Compared to traditional batch manufacturing, continuous bioprocessing is more efficient, adjustable, and sustainable and has reduced capital costs. However, despite its clear advantages, continuous bioprocessing is yet to be widely adopted in commercial manufacturing. This article provides an overview of the technological roadblocks for extensive adoptions and points out the recent advances that could help overcome them. In total, three key areas for improvement are identified: Quality by Design (QbD) implementation, integration of upstream and downstream technologies, and data and knowledge management. First, the challenges to QbD implementation are explored. Specifically, process control, process analytical technology (PAT), critical process parameter (CPP) identification, and mathematical models for bioprocess control and design are recognized as crucial for successful QbD realizations. Next, the difficulties of end-to-end process integration are examined, with a particular emphasis on downstream processing. Finally, the problem of data and knowledge management and its potential solutions are outlined where ontologies and data standards are pointed out as key drivers of progress.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Milos Drobnjakovic
- Systems Integration Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA
| | - Roger Hart
- National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals, Newark, New Jersey, USA
| | - Boonserm Serm Kulvatunyou
- Systems Integration Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA
| | - Nenad Ivezic
- Systems Integration Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA
| | - Vijay Srinivasan
- Systems Integration Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Herlevi LM, Fernandez-Lahore M, Ferreira G. A fluidized-bed-riser adsorption system for continuous bioproduct recovery from crude feedstock. Biotechnol Bioeng 2023; 120:2969-2976. [PMID: 37428609 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023]
Abstract
In this work, a novel technique for continuous purification of biologics from a crude feedstock is demonstrated with equipment referred to as Fluidized Bed Adsorption System (FBRAS). The development and validation of such unit operations were performed utilizing lysozyme as a model protein and Relisorb™ SP405/EB as a carrier. The performance of FBRAS to carry out combined clarification and purification was evaluated by capturing of antifungal peptides directly from the lysed broth. The novel technique reduced the number of process unit operations from six to three without having an impact on purity. Overall productivity increased by 250% in comparison to the existing downstream processing routine.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Marcelo Fernandez-Lahore
- Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Maison de l'innovation, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Romann P, Kolar J, Chappuis L, Herwig C, Villiger TK, Bielser JM. Maximizing Yield of Perfusion Cell Culture Processes: Evaluation and Scale-up of Continuous Bleed Recycling. Biochem Eng J 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bej.2023.108873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
|