Current Bottlenecks in Vaccine Development
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need to react faster to future epidemic situations with quicker access to effective vaccines. However, current development pipelines struggle to meet these accelerated timelines, as highlighted by initiatives like the 100 Days Missionbut also with addressing bottlenecks in vaccine development for existing diseases that remain non-preventable, such as malaria and dengue.
One of the primary challenges lies in antigen discovery—the starting point of vaccine development, regardless of modality. Due to the variety and complexity of antigen types, producing proteins for screening, characterization, and development is a significant hurdle for most vaccine developers. Producing high-quality antigens in sufficient quantities requires precise optimization of conditions, a process that can be both time-intensive and technically demanding.
In addition, protein-based vaccine production presents its own set of challenges, including scalability, yield optimization, and time-consuming processes. Despite their stability and reduced cold chain requirements, protein-based vaccines are not the go-to modality for rapid response to emerging epidemic threats due to the extensive optimizations required to achieve high-quality expression. Scaling up production for preclinical studies, clinical trials, and eventual manufacturing further compounds the delays, highlighting the need for reliable and efficient expression systems.
With the increasing need to shorten vaccine development timelines, these bottlenecks in antigen screening workflows and protein-based vaccine production must be addressed.
ALiCE® for Rapid Production of Vaccine-Relevant Proteins
ALiCE® is a eukaryotic cell-free system that enables rapid protein expression, reducing timelines for antigen discovery and protein-based vaccine production. It delivers high yields of functional proteins, including those difficult to express in cell-based systems. By enabling proper folding and post-translational modifications, ALiCE® supports the faithful expression of complex functional proteins. The system scales from microliter volumes for high-throughput screening to liter-scale productions without compromising on quality. Additionally, its ready-to-use format simplifies the development process, reducing hands-on time and operational complexity.
Streamlining Antigen Discovery with ALiCE®
As a breakthrough eukaryotic cell-free protein expression system, ALiCE® can bring unparalleled speed and efficiency to antigen screening and characterization. ALiCE® has a strong track record of expressing proteins with a broad range of complexity, including antigens that are difficult to express in cell-based systems.
A High-Throughput Antigen Screening Workflow
The ALiCE® platform streamlines antigen screening with a straightforward, ready-to-deploy workflow. It begins with rapid gene synthesis and cloning, followed by efficient cell-free protein expression to produce antigens in 24-48 hours. These antigens are then purified and directly analyzed for screening and characterization for quick identification of vaccine candidates.
Modality and Pathogen-Agnostic Antigen Discovery
mRNA Vaccines
Efficiently express and confirm proteins from mRNA constructs within hours. ALiCE® enables quick validation of antigen expression, accelerating the initial screening phase for mRNA-based vaccine development.
Recombinant Vaccines
Minimize bottlenecks in recombinant vaccine production by eliminating antigen characterization as a rate-limiting step. ALiCE® enables rapid expression of complex antigens to keep pace with accelerated development timelines.
Emerging Pathogens
Deploy high-throughput antigen screening methods to quickly identify immunogenic candidates in response to new or re-emerging pathogens. ALiCE® offers a robust solution for handling unpredictable and evolving pathogen profiles, supporting global preparedness initiatives.
Advancing VLP-Based Vaccine Production
VLPs are an emerging vaccine modality that shows promise due to their ability to mimic native viruses without being infectious, in addition to offering enhanced safety and greater stability compared to existing vaccine technologies. The ALiCE® cell-free expression platform amplifies this potential with its rapid synthesis capabilities, efficient antigen conjugation, robust immunogenicity, and scalable production processes.
Accelerated Timelines – No Need for Cell Line Development
The ALiCE® eukaryotic cell-free protein expression system can produce even the most complex proteins in under 48 hours. By removing the months-long cell line development process typically required for VLP-based vaccine production, ALiCE® enables rapid screening and validation of clinically relevant VLPs. This acceleration in expression timelines significantly shortens the time to approval, enabling a swift and effective response to emerging pandemics.
Scalable Production – From Microliter to Liter-Scale Reactions
Traditional eukaryotic cell-free systems often face challenges when scaling up, limiting their widespread adoption. In contrast, ALiCE® operates efficiently across a wide range of scales, from microliter reactions in microtiter plates to liter-scale reactions in bioreactors. This scalability has been successfully validated with VLP candidates, demonstrating optimal performance at all levels.
Versatile Platform – For Antigen-Conjugated, Immunogenic Candidates
Traditional cell-based expression systems often require extensive screening of numerous constructs to identify those that successfully assemble into immunogenic VLPs. In contrast, the ALiCE® platform can be easily adapted to express and screen antigen-conjugated VLPs. ALiCE®’s ability to generate high-quality, immunogenic vaccine candidates makes it a versatile and dependable platform for vaccine production, particularly in addressing evolving health threats.
Collaborating Towards Pandemic Preparedness
We are actively working with CEPI to achieve the 100 Days Mission which intends to significantly reduce vaccine development timelines and enhance global pandemic preparedness. This CEPI-funded project aims to provide preclinical proof-of-concept that ALiCE® can efficiently produce proteins for clinical trials targeting epidemic and pandemic threats.
This collaboration has already reached significant milestones, which include the successful demonstration of robust protein expression within just 24 hours.
Ready to Accelerate Your Vaccine Development?
ALiCE® is available as a protein expression kit in various scales and as a comprehensive protein expression service. For high-throughput applications and large-scale protein manufacturing for vaccine development, please contact us to receive an offer tailored to your needs.