Thermo Fisher, LumaCyte laser cell analyzer delivers near real-time vaccine infectivity stats: study

Engineers at LumaCyte and Thermo Fisher Scientific have demonstrated a method to rapidly analyze viral vaccines using laser force cytology, a combination of optics and microfluidics, to identify and sort cell populations without the need to label corresponding antibodies.

The two companies say it will allow for more rapid and objective measurements of live viral infectivity, for use across the vaccine development and production pipeline.

Assessments of infectious virus concentrations are necessary for establishing safety and efficacy, and are used during R&D, manufacturing, testing and clinical trials. Conventional flow cytometry techniques, which may rely on fluorescently tagged antibodies, can create bottlenecks in the development process, they said, with in-process assay times ranging from one to three days.

LumaCyte’s Radiance laser instrument evaluates single, suspended cells directly, capturing high resolution images as they pass through a laser beam to analyze their physical properties, including size, shape, surface coatings, membrane refractivity and internal structure.

In a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Vaccine, researchers from Thermo Fisher and LumaCyte evaluated two scenarios for improving the detection of vesicular stomatitis virus infections in a mammalian cell line. VSV is commonly used for vaccine production, including candidates for Ebola, Lassa and Nipah viruses.

The first scenario examined cells that were already infected with VSV, taking between five and 10 minutes for instrumental processes and analyses to establish viral infectivity, allowing for nearly real-time monitoring.

In the second, researchers determined rapid viral infectivity in crude or purified virus solutions. Samples of the preparation were taken, applied to suspension or adherent cells and then incubated before automated analysis. The study showed VSV infectivity measurements were more sensitive and were returned in 16 hours, compared to 72 hours using endpoint dilution methods.

The two companies' work together was not part of a formal collaboration per se, LumaCyte's Renée Hart told FierceBiotech, but that Thermo Fisher was an early adopter of the laser cytology system, believed it had potential to enhance its cell media production efforts and work flows, and looked to publish their data.