Vaccine development is complex and expensive, and improving efficiency through reduced costs and increased efficiencies is crucial for success. Peptones, rich in amino acids, vitamins, carbohydrates, nucleosides, minerals, and other components, can be used as supplements and feeds, enhancing performance and providing cellular protective effects. They have been a significant factor in viral vaccine development for decades, offering four potential benefits for vaccine development processes.

An alternative to serum

Serum is used for mammalian cell culture production, but challenges like limited availability, supply fluctuations, fluctuating costs, and lengthy ordering processes drive vaccine developers to seek alternatives.

Versatile and flexible

Peptones are versatile vaccine development solutions used in feeds, supplements, serum reduction, or replacement. Originating from animals, plants, and microbial sources, they have diverse nutritional profiles and can be used for various process types, cell types, and viral titers. They are highly stable, have a long shelf life, and can easily blend into any medium or supplement, providing more flexibility compared to serum.

Improve process productivity

Developing a vaccine requires optimizing cell culture media, feeds, and serum substitutes to reduce costs and increase process productivity. Peptones enhance performance, reduce development timelines, and sustain viral titers.

Peptones are familiar to regulators and suppliers

There are numerous vaccines on the market that utilize peptones in their manufacture, including the hepatitis B vaccine. As a result, both suppliers and regulators are experienced in the use of peptones for vaccine development. "Gibco^TM" peptones, for instance, are currently used in the manufacture of more than 150 marketed drugs, including 15 blockbuster drugs and many more in the pipeline. Ultimately, this familiarity from regulators should help streamline the vaccine filing process.

While peptones offer many benefits when compared with sera, not all peptones are created equal and will offer different benefits across bioprocesses. Historically, peptones were manufactured for the food industry as nutritional additives and flavor enhancers.

When considering peptones, choosing those that have been manufactured and tested specifically for bioprocessing applications will be critical for maintaining consistency from batch to batch.

Looking to the future

The bioprocessing industry faces a serum supply deficit due to rising demand from the gene therapy market. Peptones offer a flexible, efficient solution for vaccine development and manufacture, improving processes and reducing prices.