Advanced biomanufacturing and evaluation of adeno-associated virus

Abstract Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) has been developed as a safe and effective gene delivery vehicle to treat rare genetic diseases. This study aimed to establish a novel biomanufacturing process to achieve high production and purification of various AAV serotypes (AAV2, 5, DJ, DJ8). First, a robust suspensive production process was developed and optimized using Gibco Viral Production Cell 2.0 in 30–60 mL shaker flask cultures by evaluating host cells, cell density at the time of transfection and plasmid amount, adapted to 60–100 mL spinner flask production, and scaled up to 1.2–2.0-L stirred-tank bioreactor production at 37 °C, pH 7.0, 210 rpm and DO 40%. The optimal process generated AAV titer of 7.52–8.14 × 1010 vg/mL. Second, a new AAV purification using liquid chromatography was developed and optimized to reach recovery rate of 85–95% of all four serotypes. Post-purification desalting and concentration procedures were also investigated. Then the generated AAVs were evaluated in vitro using Western blotting, transmission electron microscope, confocal microscope and bioluminescence detection. Finally, the in vivo infection and functional gene expression of AAV were confirmed in tumor xenografted mouse model. In conclusion, this study reported a robust, scalable, and universal biomanufacturing platform of AAV production, clarification and purification.