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Scalable, methanol-free manufacturing of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain in engineered Komagataella phaffii (preprint)
biorxiv; 2021.
Preprint
in English
| bioRxiv | ID: ppzbmed-10.1101.2021.04.15.440035
ABSTRACT
Prevention of COVID-19 on a global scale will require the continued development of high-volume, low-cost platforms for the manufacturing of vaccines to supply on-going demand. Vaccine candidates based on recombinant protein subunits remain important because they can be manufactured at low costs in existing large-scale production facilities that use microbial hosts like Komagataella phaffii (Pichia pastoris). Here, we report an improved and scalable manufacturing approach for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD); this protein is a key antigen for several reported vaccine candidates. We genetically engineered a manufacturing strain of K. phaffii to obviate the requirement for methanol-induction of the recombinant gene. Methanol-free production improved the secreted titer of the RBD protein by >5x by alleviating protein folding stress. Removal of methanol from the production process enabled scale up to a 1,200 L pre-existing production facility. This engineered strain is now used to produce an RBD-based vaccine antigen that is currently in clinical trials and could be used to produce other variants of RBD as needed for future vaccines.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Preprints
Database:
bioRxiv
Main subject:
COVID-19
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Preprint
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