Application of multivariate data analysis on historical recombinant adenovirus zoster vaccine production data for upstream process improvements

In recent years, multivariate data analysis (MVDA) has been widely used for process characterization and fault diagnosis in the biopharmaceutical industry. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of using MVDA for the development and scale-up of a perfusion process for HEK293 cell-based recombinant adenovirus zoster vaccine (Ad-HER) production. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) results suggested comparable performance among the ATF, PATFP, and BFP perfusion systems in benchtop-scale stirred-tank bioreactor (STR). Then a Batch Evolution Model (BEM) was built using representative data from 10 L STR with a BFP system to assess the Ad-HER perfusion process performance at pilot-scale bioreactor (50 L STR and 50 L wave bioreactor). Furthermore, another BEM model and Batch Level Model (BLM) were built to monitor process parameters over time and predict the final adenovirus titer in 50 L wave bioreactor. The loading plot revealed that lactate dehydrogenase activity, viable cell diameter, and base-added during the virus production phase could be used as preliminary indicators of adenovirus yield. Finally, an adenovirus titer of 2.0±0.3×1010 IFU/mL was achieved in the 50 L wave bioreactor with BFP system, highlighting the robustness of the Ad-HER perfusion process at pilot-scale. Overall, this study emphasizes the effectiveness of MVDA as a tool for advancing the understanding of recombinant adenovirus vaccine perfusion production process development and scale-up.