BioProcessing Journal

FDA Perspectives on the Use of the Adenovirus Reference Material

As development proceeds for adenoviral vectors in gene transfer clinical trials, it becomes increasingly important that these products demonstrate a good safety profile, and thereby build confidence in those who must make decisions about risk/benefit ratios, dose escalation, and efficacy. Currently, safety and efficacy are based predominantly upon the analysis of data generated by non-standardized methods, resulting in inconsistent values being reported for virus titer and particle counts…

Risk Analysis and Management Viral Reference Materials

adenovirus FDA infectious titer particle concentration safety

A Statistical Analysis of Adenovirus Reference Material Assay Results

The Adenovirus Reference Material (ARM) was developed under the guidance of the Adenovirus Reference Material Working Group (ARMWG) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and was made possible through the donation of services and supplies by a large number of laboratories and institutions from the United States, Canada, France, The Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The purpose of the ARM is to provide a reference material for use in validating assays and internal standards for adenoviral particle concentration and infectious titer. The NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee recommended the development of such a reference-testing agent in their report issued January 2002. The ARM consists of purified wild type 5 Adenovirus as described by ATCC’s catalog number VR-5…

Viral Reference Materials

adenovirus adenovirus serotype 5 analysis infectious titer particle concentration

Animal Viral Vaccine Manufacturing

This paper reviews the manufacturing of veterinary viral vaccines and discusses the industry regulatory frameworks in both the European Union and the United States, the world’s two largest regulatory markets. We also address specific technical and regulatory issues associated with viral vaccine inactivation. Finally, we present two case histories for conventional viral vaccines: Foot and Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) and Marek’s Disease, which are both long-established conventional vaccines, but nevertheless of great interest…

Manufacturing Regulatory

vaccines veterinary viral vaccines

Risk Management Tools for the Management of Critical Raw Materials

Risk management deals with planning for, and reacting to, hazard or loss. The regulatory authorities are focusing on the issues associated with establishing alternative sources of raw materials, especially as they are noticing a number of related quality problems in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Supply chain management for critical raw materials used in biopharmaceutical manufacturing is an appropriate subject for risk management. This paper analyzes five important areas in risk management as it applies to the supply chain for critical raw materials…

Risk Analysis and Management

quality raw materials supply chain management

A Contaminant in the Adenovirus Reference Material

The Adenovirus Reference Material (ARM) is a purified and well-characterized wild type adenovirus (Ad5) now available to researchers worldwide. Due to the need for a common reference material, the ARM was produced with the purpose of validating assay methods and internal standards for use in developing recombinant adenovirus for gene therapy. Analysis of ARM by RP-HPLC, however, detected the presence of a contaminant peak with a distinctive A240 local wavelength maximum. The contaminant was found in all of the vials, with some variability in amount between vials. It appears that the contaminant is not associated with the virus and it is unlikely that it will interfere with the use of the ARM as a reference material. The source of the contaminant was probably a leachate or plasticizer from the tubing or containers used during the final processing step…

Viral Reference Materials

adenovirus serotype 5 contaminant control standards

A Short-Term Field Use and Shipping Stability Study of a Wild Type Ad5 Adenoviral Reference Material

Adenoviral vectors for gene delivery are being tested in the clinic for a number of indications and therapeutic uses. In order to facilitate the comparison of studies from different laboratories, the Adenovirus Reference Material Working Group (ARMWG) has developed a reference testing reagent, which will be referred to as the Wild Type Ad5 Adenoviral Reference Material (ARM). This ARM will allow laboratories to standardize in-house controls employed in assays for the determination of particle concentration and infectious titer of their own adenoviral preparations. As part of this project, short-term field use and shipping studies were performed on the ARM. The virus was found to be stable under simulated shipping conditions, for one thaw after shipping, and at 4 °C for up to four hours after thawing. However, there was evidence of aggregation in some vials with repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Therefore, we recommend that each vial be treated as a single-use aliquot, and that it be used within four hours of thawing…

Viral Reference Materials

adenoviral vectors adenovirus serotype 5 infectious titer stability testing

Complex N-glycosylation of Recombinant Proteins by Insect Cells

The insect cell/baculovirus expression system typically results in more rapid expression and higher concentrations of recombinant proteins than what can be achieved with other animal cell culture systems. The lack of complex glycosylation in the proteins produced by this system, however, limits its use in the commercial-scale production of therapeutics. Complex glycosylation is required in many cases for adequate protein activity and pharmokinetic characteristics. In contrast to the protein’s primary structure, which is encoded by the genetic material and is constant regardless of the host utilized, the extent of glycosylation is determined by the host, and by the protein itself. Even cells from different tissues of the same organism provide different glycosylation profiles. In addition, culture conditions and the cellular metabolic state can also influence protein glycosylation…

Baculovirus Expression Technology Biologics Production

glycosylation N-glycosylation pharmokinetics recombinant proteins

Utility of a Recombinant Adeno-Associated Viral Vector Reference Standard

Recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors are known to be efficient vehicles for gene transfer in animal models. The attractive feature of this vector system consists primarily of long-term gene expression with little or no associated toxicities following administration to a variety of tissues. Previous and ongoing clinical trials in humans demonstrate a very good overall safety profile, but problems persist due to the lack of any systematic method for normalizing doses administered to animals and humans. To date, most of the work involves AAV serotype 2 vectors, but vector systems based on other AAV serotypes continue to develop rapidly. Administered doses are usually based on titer, but the defective nature of AAV makes determining vector infectious units difficult. Titering methods based on vector genomes (using hybridization, real-time PCR, or spectrophotometry) are more reliable, but give no information as to the infectivity of the vector. Determining infectious titer is critical, as the ratio of infectious virions to vector genome-containing virions helps to determine the dose, potency, and strength of the vector preparation…

Viral Reference Materials Viral Vectors

adeno-associated viral vectors infectious titer recombinant proteins safety standards

Media Supply and Development

Based on feedback received from a number of our recent conferences, cell culture media development remains one of the biggest challenges in the development of biological products. With more products reaching larger production scale and licensed production, it is becoming ever more important that we gain a better understanding of the media supply industry, and that we find ways to make media development more economical, reliable, and reproducible…

Biologics Production

cell culture media

Manufacturing Biological Clinical Materials by a Dual Track “Traditional/Transgenic” Approach

By virtually any measure, constraints in current manufacturing capacity are hindering the development of new biologic drugs, as well as the greater market penetration of several licensed biologics. This capacity demand is being driven not only by the increasing number of new biologics being approved, but by the number of biologics that are in the product development pipeline. Figure 1 shows United States FDA biologics approvals for the 20-year period from 1981-2000. While there is year-to-year variability in approvals, especially in later years, the five-year averages show a doubling in the annual rate of product approval for each successive five-year period. Clearly, these averages cannot continue to increase at the same rate. In fact, only six biologics were approved by the FDA in 2001…

Manufacturing

biologics

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