Detailed Protocol for the Novel and Scalable Viral Vector Upstream Process for AAV Gene Therapy Manufacturing.

Recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vector-based gene therapy has been adapted for use in more than 100 clinical trials. This is mainly because of its excellent safety profile, ability to target a wide range of tissues, stable transgene expression, and significant clinical benefit. However, the major challenge is to produce a high-titer, high-potency vector to achieve a better therapeutic effect. Even though the three plasmid-based transient transfection method is currently being used for AAV production in many clinical trials, there are complications associated with scalability and it is not cost-effective. Other methods require either large-scale production of two herpes simplex viruses, rHSV-RepCap and rHSV-GOI (gene of interest), with high titers, or a stable cell line with high titer wild-type adenovirus infection. Both of these options make the process even more complex. To address this issue, we have developed a stable cell line-based production with the use of only one rHSV-RepCap virus. Using this new methodology in small-scale production, we achieved ∼1-6 E + 04 vg/cell of AAV9 in the top producer clones. Large-scale production in 10-CS (10-Cell Stack) of one of the top producing clones resulted in ∼1-2 E + 13 vg/10-CS with 50% of full capsid ratio after purification. This method could potentially be adapted to suspension cells. The major advantage of this novel methodology is that by using the rHSV-RepCap virus, high titer AAV can be produced with any GOI containing a stable adherent or suspension producer cell line. The use of this AAV production platform could be beneficial for the treatment of many diseases.

Safety and Stability of Antibody-Dye Conjugate in Optical Molecular Imaging.

PURPOSE: The development of molecularly targeted tracers is likely to improve the accuracy of diagnostic, screening, and therapeutic tools. Despite the many therapeutic antibodies that are FDA-approved with known toxicity, only a limited number of antibody-dye conjugates have been introduced to the clinic. Thorough evaluation of the safety, stability, and pharmacokinetics of antibody conjugates in the clinical setting compared with their parental components could accelerate the clinical approval of antibodies as agents for molecular imaging. Here we investigate the safety and stability of a near-infrared fluorescent dye (IRDye800CW) conjugated panitumumab, an approved therapeutic antibody, and report on the product stability, pharmacokinetics, adverse events, and QTc interval changes in patients. PROCEDURES: Panitumumab-IRDye800CW was made under good manufacturing practice (GMP) conditions in a single batch on March 26, 2014, and then evaluated over 4.5 years at 0, 3, and 6 months, and then at 6-month intervals thereafter. We conducted early phase trials in head and neck, lung, pancreas, and brain cancers with panitumumab-IRDye800CW. Eighty-one patients scheduled to undergo standard-of-care surgery were infused with doses between 0.06 to 2.83 mg/kg of antibody. Patient ECGs, blood samples, and adverse events were collected over 30-day post-infusion for analysis. RESULTS: Eighty-one patients underwent infusion of the study drug at a range of doses. Six patients (7.4 %) experienced an adverse event that was considered potentially related to the drug. The most common event was a prolonged QTc interval which occurred in three patients (3.7 %). Panitumumab-IRDye800CW had two OOS results at 42 and 54 months while meeting all other stability testing criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Panitumumab-IRDye800CW was safe and stable to administer over a 54-month window with a low rate of adverse events (7.4 %) which is consistent with the rate associated with panitumumab alone. This data supports re-purposing therapeutic antibodies as diagnostic imaging agents with limited preclinical toxicology studies.

Mammalian cell transient expression, non-affinity purification, and characterization of human recombinant IGFBP7, an IGF-1 targeting therapeutic protein.

Targeted inhibiting insulin-like growth factor 1 is an effective approach for cancer therapy. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) is considered as a potential therapeutic protein. However, producing high quality of such non-IgG proteins in mammalian cells is still a challenge in biopharmaceutical development. Here, we report a rapid production process by using transient gene transfection in HEK 293E cells. A set of constructs combining several expression promoters, leader sequences, and 5' un-translated regions were generated and optimized, from which the best vector with expression level at ~50mg/L was selected for production at 2L cell culture scale. Comparison study in downstream purification methods led to development of a scalable, non-affinity chromatography strategy through Super Q, Fast Flow Q, and Heparin columns. The product was characterized in purity (99%), isoelectric point, molecule weight, glycosylation, and stability by using SEC-HPLC, SDS-PAGE, isoelectric focusing and mass spectrometry. The highly purified product shows IGF-1 binding activity and inhibits IGF-1-induced cell proliferation. This process not only provides a remarkable high expression at ~50mg/L and pure glycosylated mammalian rhIGFBP7, also highlights that transient gene expression technology is practical to be used for production and early development of recombinant non-IgG therapeutic proteins.

Clinical manufacturing of recombinant human interleukin 15. I. Production cell line development and protein expression in E. coli with stop codon optimization.

Interleukin 15 (IL-15) has shown remarkable biological properties of promoting NK- and T-cell activation and proliferation, as well as enhancing antitumor immunity of CD8(+) T cells in preclinical models. Here, we report the development of an E. coli cell line to express recombinant human Interleukin-15 (rhIL-15) for clinical manufacturing. Human IL-15 cDNA sequence was inserted into a pET28b plasmid and expressed in several E. coli BL21 strains. Through product quality comparisons among several E. coli strains, including E. coli BL21(DE3), BL21(DE3)pLysS, BLR(DE3)pLysS, and BL21-AI, E. coli BL21-AI was selected for clinical manufacturing. Expression optimization was carried out at shake flask and 20-L fermenter scales, and the product was expressed as inclusion bodies that were solubilized, refolded, and purified to yield active rhIL-15. Stop codons of the expression construct were further investigated after 15-20% of the purified rhIL-15 showed an extraneous peak corresponding to an extra tryptophan residue based on peptide mapping and mass spectrometry analysis. It was determined that the presence of an extra tryptophan was due to a stop codon wobble effect, which could be eliminated by replacing TGA (opal) stop codon with TAA (ochre). As a novel strategy, a simple method of demonstrating lack of tRNA suppressors in the production host cells was developed to validate the cells in this study. The E. coli BL21-AI cells containing the rhIL-15 coding sequence with a triplet stop codon TAATAATGA were banked for further clinical manufacturing.

A new generation of serotype chimeric infectivity-enhanced conditionally replicative adenovirals: the safety profile of ad5/3-Δ24 in advance of a phase I clinical trial in ovarian cancer patients.

Conditionally replicative adenoviral (CRAd) virotherapy represents a promising therapeutic approach for cancer. We have demonstrated that a serotype chimeric adenoviral 5/3 fiber-knob modification achieves enhanced ovarian cancer infectivity, conditional replication, and oncolytic activity. This study evaluated the safety of intraperitoneal (IP) Ad5/3-Δ24 in advance of a phase I clinical trial in gynecologic cancers. Syrian hamster cohorts were treated with IP Ad5/3-Δ24 or control buffer for 3 consecutive days and euthanized on study days 8, 17, 57, and 89. Blood and tissue samples were harvested from each animal. For biodistribution studies, presence and quantitation of viral levels within samples were determined via quantitative polymerase chain reaction. For safety studies, animals were assessed for adverse vector-related tissue or laboratory effects. In the biodistribution study, low levels of Ad5/3-Δ24 DNA were noted outside of the abdominal cavity. Viral DNA levels in tissues obtained from the peritoneal cavity peaked at day 8 and declined thereafter. In the safety study, no specific histopathologic changes were attributable to virus administration. Hematologic findings noted in the 1 × 10(11) viral particles (vp)/dose group on Days 4 and/or 8 were indicative of an Ad5/3-Δ24-specific generalized inflammatory response; these findings resolved by day 56. The no observable adverse effect level was determined to be 1 × 10(10) vp/dose. This study elucidates the safety profile of IP administration of the serotype chimeric infectivity-enhanced CRAd, Ad5/3-Δ24, and provides guidance for a planned phase I trial for patients with recurrent gynecologic cancers.

Recombinant oncolytic poliovirus eliminates glioma in vivo without genetic adaptation to a pathogenic phenotype.

Many viruses, either naturally occurring or as a result of genetic manipulation, exhibit conditional replication in transformed cells. This principle is the basis for experimental therapeutic approaches exploiting the oncolytic potential of such agents without the danger of collateral damage to resistant normal tissues. One of the potential obstacles to these approaches is the possibility of genetic adaptation of oncolytic viruses upon replication in susceptible tumor tissues. Genetic variation can reverse genetic manipulations of parental viral genomes that determine attenuation of virulence, selective tumor cell tropism or other desirable traits. Alternatively, it may convey new properties not originally associated with parental strains, e.g., adaptation to a human host range. We examined genetic stability of an oncolytic nonpathogenic poliovirus recombinant considered for therapy of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). This was done by serial passage experiments in glioma xenografts in vivo and investigation of phenotypic and genotypic markers of attenuation. Intratumoral inoculation of oncolytic poliovirus produced efficient tumor regress and elimination without altering temperature-sensitive growth, selective cytotoxicity, or genetic markers of attenuation of virus recovered from inoculated animals. Our studies demonstrate that active viral oncolysis of malignant glioma does not alter the conditional replication properties of oncolytic nonpathogenic poliovirus recombinants.

Identifying the safety profile of a novel infectivity-enhanced conditionally replicative adenovirus, Ad5-delta24-RGD, in anticipation of a phase I trial for recurrent ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the biodistribution and toxicity of the tropism-modified infectivity-enhanced conditionally replicative adenovirus, Ad5-delta24-arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD). STUDY DESIGN: Cohorts of cotton rats were treated intravenously or intraperitoneally for 3 consecutive days with 5 x 10(8) to 5 x 10(11) particles/kg of Ad5-delta24-RGD or controls and killed on day 8, 17, or 56. For biodistribution studies, tissue samples from 14 organ sites and serum samples were evaluated for the presence of virus with the use of quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. For toxicity experiments, tissue samples from more than 30 organ sites and serum samples were obtained for the assessment of vector-related tissue or laboratory effects. RESULTS: Ad5-delta24-RGD was noted in tested samples at days 8 and 17 in animals that were treated intravenously and intraperitoneally with clearance by day 56. There were lower copies of vector noted in the blood and liver specimens of intraperitoneally treated animals. Mild peritonitis histopathologic findings were noted in rats that were treated intraperitoneally with Ad5-delta24-RGD; pathologic findings did not vary significantly with dose, over time, or in comparison to that noted in animals that were treated with Ad5-delta24. CONCLUSION: These studies provide critical insights regarding Ad5-delta24-RGD dosing and anticipated toxicity for a planned clinical trial for ovarian cancer.

Preclinical manufacture of an anti-HER2 scFv-PEG-DSPE, liposome-inserting conjugate. 1. Gram-scale production and purification.

A GMP-compliant process is described for producing F5cys-PEG-lipid conjugate. This material fuses with preformed, drug-loaded liposomes, to form "immunoliposomes" that bind to HER2/neu overexpressing carcinomas, stimulates drug internalization, and ideally improves the encapsulated drug's therapeutic index. The soluble, single-chain, variable region antibody fragment, designated F5cys, was produced in E. coli strain RV308 using high-density cultures. Affinity adsorption onto horizontally tumbled Streamline rProtein-A resin robustly recovered F5cys from high-pressure-disrupted, whole-cell homogenates. Two product-related impurity classes were identified: F5cys with mid-sequence discontinuities and F5cys with remnants of a pelB leader peptide. Low-pressure cation exchange chromatography, conducted at elevated pH under reducing conditions, enriched target F5cys relative to these impurities and prepared a C-terminal cysteine for conjugation. Site-directed conjugation, conducted at pH 5.9 +/- 0.1 with reaction monitoring and cysteine quenching, yielded F5cys-MP-PEG(2000)-DSPE. Low-pressure size exclusion chromatography separated spontaneously formed, high-molecular-weight conjugate micelles from low-molecular-weight impurities. When formulated at 1-2 mg/mL in 10 mM trisodium citrate, 10% sucrose (w/v), at pH 6.4 (HCl), the conjugate was stable when stored below -70 degrees C. Six scale-up lots were compared. The largest 40-L culture produced enough F5cys to manufacture 2,085 mg of conjugate, enough to support planned preclinical and future clinical trials. The conjugate was 93% pure, as measured by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Impurities were primarily identified as product-related. Residual endotoxin, rProtein A, and genomic DNA, were at acceptable levels. This study successfully addressed a necessary step in the scale-up of immunoliposome-encapsulated therapeutics.