The technology developed by Professor Thomas De Beer and his team from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences may play a key role in containing future virus outbreaks. ‘Continuous spin freeze-drying’ may facilitate and accelerate the development, production, storage and transport of, for instance, mRNA vaccines.
In short
- - Spin freeze-drying provides a solution to an important obstacle with mRNA vaccines: the cumbersome logistics required for storage and transport at -80° Celsius.
- This will make the whole process much faster and environment-friendly with future virus outbreaks.
- It can not only make a difference against viruses but also in the fight against cancer.
To fully grasp the significance of spin freeze-drying, we have to flash back to COVID days. During the pandemic, the world was introduced to vaccines based on mRNA technology. For the first time in history, mRNA vaccines were deployed to activate our immune system against a virus.
Cumbersome logistics to store vaccines
This was not just pharmaceutical cutting-edge technology but also a logistical feat. Liquid mRNA vaccines must be stored and transported at temperatures of up to -80° Celsius. “As a result, the transport and storage of mRNA vaccines remains a laborious activity,” professor Thomas De Beer confirms. “All the more so if they are intended for countries where extreme temperatures are common and energy supplies cannot always be guaranteed.”
For other liquid vaccines a solution has been available for some time. With freeze-drying a vaccine is dehydrated and stored in powder form, extending their shelf life and allowing for storage at room temperature. Not having to respect a cold chain makes vaccine distribution much easier and more environment-friendly.
Saving costs, time and energy
The problem: it takes a lot of time to get the conventional freeze-drying process exactly right with new vaccines – time you often can’t afford to lose with virus outbreaks. And that’s where Thomas and his colleagues come in.
“If you can build a machine that does enable you to develop and produce freeze-dried vaccines quickly then freeze-drying becomes a viable option for this type of vaccines and transport at -80° Celsius becomes a thing of the past, saving a tremendous amount of costs, time and energy. Our technology aims to make this happen. In the long term this should allow a much faster and larger-scale response to future epidemics.”
What is spin freeze-drying?
With spin freeze-drying, vaccine vials rotate along an axis while a stream of cold gas freezes the vaccine into a thin product layer on the vial’s inner wall. This greatly accelerates the drying process compared to traditional freeze-drying. “What makes this technique so special is that it is a continuous process. We don’t handle a shipment of vaccines on a per batch basis; instead we work with a continuous supply of vials. We constantly measure all relevant parameters, vial per vial, so that every end product is checked as it leaves the machine. This approach ensures consistent quality and the process can easily be scaled up to larger production machines.”
“What makes this technique so special is that it is a continuous process. We don’t handle a shipment of vaccines on a per batch basis; instead we work with a continuous supply of vials", says Thomas De Beer.
Collaboration with the pharma industry
After initial testing Thomas and his team quickly developed their first prototype, which was tested elaborately in conjunction with pharmaceutical companies. The interest of the pharma industry was immediately piqued and in 2018 Thomas De Beer and Jos Corver – who masterminded the technique –founded their spin-off RheaVita within the framework of Ghent University. “The technology is being developed further here into production-ready machines. A number of pharma companies have already ordered machines for their R&D department. The final touches are now being added to make them ready for production.”
So aren’t pharma giants and mRNA pioneers such as BioNTech and Pfizer keeping a close watch on the RheaVita spin-off? “They are definitely very interested. Many companies frequently carry out tests on the prototypes in our labs and we have machines at their premises. We expect to perfect our small-scale spin freeze-drying machines by the end of this year.”
Making a difference in the fight against cancer
Subsequently the machines will be scaled up one step at a time. Thomas De Beer: “Next year we want to build an installation that can handle significant quantities of vaccines or medicines.”
In the future, this can make all the difference in containing new viruses but perhaps also in the fight against cancer. The mRNA technology was originally developed during the search for cancer vaccines but the COVID pandemic pushed that research to the back burner. However, there is a promising mRNA vaccine against lung cancer that is now in the stage of safety checks with patients. It should be ready for production by 2030.
Thomas hopes his technology can also make a contribution. “Our very strict and sophisticated technology is exceptionally suited for vaccines that are not produced on a large scale but that nevertheless have extremely high value.”
Would he like to be there when the first patient is injected with a spin freeze-dried vaccine? “Absolutely. More even: I’d like to be the first person to be injected with one.”
Thomas De Beer is a professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and is the CEO of RheaVita. He has lost his heart to Ghent University. “During my doctorate I came into contact with different research groups and that led to a tight circle of friends. We even founded a futsal team that is still active today, albeit not in the veteran division (laughs).”
Read also
How small zebrafish are contributing to science
They number 15,000, the colony of zebrafish in the Core Zebrafish Facility Ghent at the site of UZ Gent. They are nurtured and cared for under optimum conditions as laboratory animals by the researchers of the Centre for Medical Genetics. “But research into genetic disorders is not all we do here,” professor Paul Coucke emphasises.
This is how to avoid parasites on holiday
Holidays! You're already looking forward to all the delicious things you'll eat while travelling, but wait ... Can you just eat anything? "There are some foods that you need to be a bit careful with.” Professor Sarah Gabriel tells us how to avoid taking an extra passenger back home
Revolution in plastic surgery: human tissue rolls out of printer
Creating new pieces of bone, muscle, skin or fat with a 3D printer to heal injuries. Sounds futuristic? The first steps are already being taken today! We spoke with plastic surgeon and professor Phillip Blondeel about his research into tissue engineering.
Most skin cancers can be prevented: protect yourself from UV with these 4 tips
Sunshine and holidays equal a tanned skin for many. But we need to adjust our ideas about tanning, according to dermatologists Lieve Brochez and Isabelle Hoorens. Our behavior towards the sun and UV will cause more and more cases of skin cancer in the coming years.
