Reduces process development time by an estimated 40 percent. It enables biopharmaceutical companies to increase the speed of clinical manufacturing. Adds to the company’s best VirusExpress® lentiviral production platform.
DARMSTADT, Germany, August 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Merck, a leading science and technology company, has launched the VirusExpress® 293 adeno-associated virus (AAV) production platform, making it one of the first CDMOs and technology developers to offer a comprehensive offering of viral vector manufacturing including AAV, Lentiviral, CDMO, CTO and process development. This new platform enables biopharmaceutical companies to increase the speed of clinical manufacturing while reducing process development time and costs.
Merck scientists operating a 200 L Mobius® single-use bioreactor using the VirusExpress® 293 adeno-associated virus production platform at the company’s facility in Carlsbad, California.
“Cell and gene therapies offer the potential for curative treatments and can be brought to market in half the time compared to traditional therapies,” he said. dirk lange, Head of Life Sciences Services, Life Sciences business sector at Merck. “By increasing dose throughput and dramatically reducing process development time, our VirusExpress® 293 AAV production platform will accelerate the manufacturing of these therapies and ultimately bring life-saving treatments to patients faster” .
The new platform is an extension of the company’s VirusExpress® offering, which can reduce process development time by up to 40 percent, based on Merck’s experience as a CDMO. The company’s VirusExpress® lentiviral production platform has enabled customers to increase the speed of clinical manufacturing, achieve five times higher titers than the leading competitor, and transition from a legacy process to a template-based solution.
Merck’s VirusExpress® platforms offer a streamlined bottom-up workflow for AAV and Lentivirus production, making it easy to manage, tune and scale processes. In addition to speeding up process development, the suspension culture format allows for higher batch yields to allow for more patient doses. Additionally, suspension culture is amenable to robust and scalable manufacturing processes, while requiring less labor. Chemically defined cell culture media eliminate the safety, regulatory and supply chain concerns associated with animal and human derived materials. Flexible licenses allow companies to manufacture vectors by using Merck’s contract manufacturing capabilities and expertise with access to upstream and downstream templates or by using in-house or third-party development.
Merck’s Life Sciences business sector is a leading CDMO and has been involved in this space since clinical trials for gene therapy began in the 1990s. October 2021the company opened its second carlsbad, california-facility-based, more than doubling its existing production capacity to support large-scale commercial manufacturing.
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About Merck
Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates in the areas of life sciences, healthcare and electronics. More than 60,000 employees work to make a positive difference in the lives of millions of people every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways of living. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling device intelligence, the company is everywhere. In 2021, Merck generated sales of €19.7 billion in 66 countries.
Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck’s scientific and technological advances. This is how Merck has prospered since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly traded company. Merck owns the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States Y Canadawhere Merck business sectors such as MilliporeSigma in life sciences, EMD Serono in healthcare, and EMD Electronics in electronics operate.
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SOURCE Merck
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