Transatlantic scientists to transition traditional vaccine development onto rapid-response platform for faster outbreak control

CEPI is providing £2.16 million (US$2.8 million) to CPI for a proof-of-concept study towards the development of the University of Toronto’s self-contained MANGO (MANufacturing on the GO) device, which aims to automate the process of virus-like particle manufacturing. Virus-like particles, or VLPs, are proteins that look similar enough to viruses that the immune system responds to them as if they were a live virus without containing any genetic, viral material. VLPs are safely used in some vaccines already; however, producing VLP-based vaccines can be time-consuming as they typically need to grow in living cells. 

The MANGO device will employ a technique called cell-free expression, which doesn’t rely on living cells to produce the VLP, negating the need for cell cloning, manufacture and maintenance of master and working cell banks — necessary steps required before VLP manufacturing can begin — saving months in development time. The MANGO technology means the actual process of manufacturing VLPs could also be dramatically reduced from 7 – 9 days to just a single day.

CPI will collaborate with multi-national consortia partners, including Imperial College London, the University of Leeds, the University of Toronto, Liberum Biotech, the University of Waterloo, and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FioCruz), to accelerate the development of such an approach to vaccine manufacture.

The CEPI-CPI partnership supports the 100 Days Mission — a goal embraced by leaders of the G7 and G20 to reduce vaccine development timelines to a little over 3 months in response to a pandemic threat.

Dr Philip Probert, Technology Lead at CPI, said:

“The development and manufacture of virus-like particle vaccines represents a valuable opportunity for innovation in order to accelerate timelines and reduce process complexity. Working with our international partners, we will apply a novel combination of cell-free expression technology and bespoke hardware to drive a step change in the time required to supply VLP vaccines. We are delighted to be working with CEPI in support of their 100 Days Mission and facilitating equitable access to life-saving vaccines.”

Dr Raafat Fahim, Acting Executive Director of Manufacturing and Supply Chain at CEPI, said:

“Virus-like particle-based vaccines are well established already, but — until now — the development process has been protracted. The potentially dramatic time-savings that the MANGO device offers could see VLP-based vaccines transition onto a rapid response platform, directly supporting CEPI’s goal to respond to a Disease X threat with a new vaccine in as little as 100 days after its discovery.”

Conceptually, the user will simply load the MANGO device with the required vaccine input materials and provide it with instructions to make a specific vaccine. From that point on, the entire process would be automated to create the final product: a VLP-based vaccine.

If successful, in a rapid response scenario, the MANGO device could help reduce the need for traditional facilities and equipment, skilled workforce requirements, cold chain storage, and the supply of raw materials associated with current VLP manufacturing. All of this would potentially reduce the cost of goods and further enable regional manufacturing in Global South countries, which will help to improve equitable access to vaccines during future outbreaks. 

Enabling global equitable access to vaccines is central to CEPI’s work and at the heart of the 100 Days Mission. Innovations that accelerate the speed and scaling up of vaccine manufacturing will make a vital contribution to access when facing a future novel infectious disease by reducing the period during which vaccines against new pathogens are in short supply, thereby significantly increasing the prospects for more equitable distribution.

CEPI and CPI are committed to enabling equitable access to the outputs of this CEPI-supported programme in line with CEPI’s Equitable Access Policy. This ultimately includes a commitment to vaccines being available first to populations at risk when and where they are needed at an affordable price should a related vaccine be developed further using CEPI funding. Project results, including data generated as part of this project, will be published open access for the benefit of the global scientific community.