New Thermo system makes AAV production more efficient and scalable

The company's new Gibco AAV-MAX Helper Free AAV Production System helps reduce production costs and streamline transition from research to clinical environments

According to the company, the integrated Gibco AAV-MAX Helper Free AAV Production System, which is for research use only, simplifies the AAV vector production workflow, and increases productivity and cost efficiency by delivering high viral titers using Viral Production Cells 2.0 — a new, clonally documented, 293F-derived mammalian cell line.

Of the approximately 1,300 unique gene therapy products currently under development, nearly 50% rely on AAV. The efficacy and safety profile of AAV makes it an "ideal therapeutic vector and one of the go-to biological delivery methods for the latest gene therapy breakthroughs", said Amy Butler, president, biosciences, Thermo Fisher Scientific. The ability to scale production, therefore, is critical to bringing down costs and accelerating the process from research to commercialisation.

Thermo's all-in-one system has been developed to scale from shake flasks to bioreactors. Coupled with the active development of regulatory-compliant reagents, the system streamlines the transition from research to commercial manufacturing.

On average, the system can save viral vector researchers and developers 25% on plasmid DNA usage and 50% on production costs compared with polyethyleneimine-based mammalian production systems. When used in conjunction with Thermo Fisher's expanded gene therapy portfolio of products, developers are able to smoothly ramp-up to commercial production to help the delivery of therapies to patients.