Katie and Asher publish their work on a novel cell-free biomanufacturing approach for low-cost, thermostable production of conjugate vaccines
In a new study published in ACS Synthetic Biology, an inexpensive, thermostable, cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) platform for decentralized vaccine production has been developed by Katie Warfel at Northwestern University together with Asher Williams in our group. In their experiments, this lyophilized in vitro vaccine expression (iVAX) system lowered the cost of cell-free expression reactions to less than $0.50 per dose when formulations were stored at 37°C, and less than $1 per dose when stored at temperatures as high as 50°C. Cold-chain distribution, therefore, is unnecessary for hot environments. Because glycosylated products now can be produced in a lyophilized CFPS system, “This creates opportunities to target many diseases and manufacture medicines for deployment in resource-limited settings that current economics simply do not allow,” said Mike Jewett in a recent news story in Genetic & Engineering News (GEN).
To read the complete GEN story, go here: