How single-use technologies improve vaccine production

Khalil Essani - Single Use Support

Khalil Essani

December 7, 2023

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In vaccine manufacturing, technological advancements continually redefine the equipment used for efficient production. Single-use technologies have proved to be a more than viable production approach, improving the landscape of vaccine development and distribution.

From its transformative role in fluid management to its impact on maintaining the integrity of the cold chain, single-use technologies offer promising solutions that streamline important processes, improve its efficiency, and enhance the quality of vaccine production.

This article explores the profound impact of single-use technologies on the vaccine industry, shedding light on the numerous advantages it brings to the biopharma industry.

Single-use technologies in today’s vaccine market

In today's vaccine market, single-use technologies represent a game-changing production approach that is being increasingly adopted by vaccine manufacturing companies. Single-use components like bioreactors, mixers, and filtration systems play crucial roles in both streamlining and simplifying manufacturing, mainly because of the flexibility they bring to various processes.

This shift towards single-use systems in biopharma has been further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, as a recent report shows: As for the use of bioreactors in commercial-scale bioprocessing, for instance, the share of respective single-use solutions has increased from 32.5% in 2019 to 43% in 2022.1

This ongoing development does not surprise when considering the numerous benefits that single-use technologies bring to vaccine manufacturing – some of which will be discussed in the following chapters.1 

General benefits of SUT in the production of vaccines

Single-use technologies offer a myriad of benefits in vaccine production, extending far beyond specific applications. Their scalability allows manufacturers to adapt swiftly to varying production demands without significant infrastructure changes. Moreover, single-use technologies are considered more sustainable than stainless steel installations, as they minimize water and energy usage by eliminating the need for cleaning and sterilization.2

Cost-effectiveness stems from reduced cleaning and downtime, but also from the minimized risk of product loss due to automated processes in closed sterile systems. In addition, automated single-use technologies diminish human intervention, curbing the risk of errors and contamination.

Here’s a list with the most important benefits of single-use technologies in vaccine manufacturing:

  • Reduced processing times
  • Shortened time to market
  • Adaptability of production capacities, market demands, and scales
  • Reduced risk for cross-contamination
  • Easy implementation and quick changeovers, thus reducing size and cost of facilities

Sources: 2 3 

Aseptic bag filling machine RoSS.FILL

Improved fluid management in vaccine manufacturing

Single-use technologies redefine fluid management in vaccine manufacturing with specific merits. Innovative filling platforms for automated dispensing of liquids into single-use bioprocess containers can drastically minimize product loss, optimize the handling of fluids, and ensure precise volume consistency throughout the manufacturing process. Furthermore, these systems are highly adaptable, catering to diverse batch sizes without compromising efficiency or sterility.

By implementing single-use technologies, the likelihood of cross-contamination diminishes substantially – by simultaneously reducing the need for cleaning and sterilization processes at the manufacturing site. Additional advantages of automated fluid management solutions like RoSS.FILL lie in its modularity and scalability, while providing outstanding accuracy and speed.

eBook: Filling Gaps in Managing Large Volumes of Biologics

Aseptic aliquotation and cryopreservation of drug substances are crucial process steps in bioprocessing. Even though they’re not in the spotlight of biomanufacturing. In drug development and drug delivery, biologics must be transferred at numerous occasions. Along the journey of monoclonal antibodies, vaccines and more, the drug substance passes lots of process steps where liquid transfer is required. This is relevant for the transitions between upstream processing, downstream processing and fill & finish, but also within these manufacturing milestones. The market of fluid & cold chain management has great growth potential and is on its way to professionalization and industrialization. To meet the challenges of manufacturing drug substances, Single Use Support helps manufacturers and CDMOs to advance their fluid & cold chain management process to achieve a secure and efficient process for liquids on the basis of single-use bags.

Advanced cold chain management in vaccine production & distribution

Advanced cold chain management is critical in vaccine production and distribution, since these valuable substances – whether they are base on small or large molecules – often are not only sensitive to variations in temperature and prone to degradation, but also need to cover long distances from the manufacturer’s site to fill & finish, where liquids are filled into vials or syringes for administration to patients.

Single-use technologies have significantly improved cold chain management in vaccine manufacturing, e.g. by endorsing controlled-rate freezing methods. Unlike conventional freezing methods that may be prone to variability and inconsistency as well as damaging effects like cryoconcentration, controlled-rate freezing provides a precise and reliable approach for freezing vaccines. This method ensures that vaccines maintain their potency and efficacy, safeguarding the product quality throughout the cold chain logistics process.

Single-use bioprocess containers are primary packagings that can be used within a controlled freezing process. Thoroughly protected, different types and sizes of single-use bags can be put into plate-based controlled rate freezers for a standardized freezing and thawing procedure that helps reduce the risk of degradation due to uncontrolled temperature fluctuations. In addition, ULT freezers provide safe and space-efficient ultra-low temperature storage for vaccines and respective components.

Whitepaper: How Controlled & Scalable Freezing Becomes Reality

Scalability around freezing means the ability to guarantee constant freezing kinetics on proteins (biopharmaceutical molecules) in all scales, filling volumes and loading scenarios. This guide covers how to achieve scalable freezing & thawing of biopharmaceuticals by showing What is scalability? Setup for controlled icefront growth speed Scalability results Outcomes
Plate freezer biopharma - RoSS.pFTU freeze thaw platform by Single Use Support

Improving vaccine production with Single Use Support

Single Use Support has developed a broad portfolio of single-use solutions, ready to encompass every stage of vaccine development and manufacturing. With RoSS.PADL and RoSS.FILL systems for automated homogenization and filling, fluid management in vaccine manufacturing can benefit from maximized accuracy, consistency and safety. Furthermore, compliance with regulatory standards is facilitated due to standardized workflows and enhanced traceability.

Additionally, Single Use Support provides vaccine manufacturing companies with advanced single-use solutions for effective and reliable cold chain management: The plate freezing platform RoSS.pFTU brings scalability and flexibility to vaccine manufacturing, as it allows controlled-rate freezing of single-use bioprocess containers in different sizes. Covered in RoSS® Shell as an innovative shield for single-use bag protection, valuable vaccines can be securely frozen, stored and shipped.

  1. Single-Use Bioprocessing Technologies Enabling More Rapid Vaccines Production, https://www.americanpharmaceuticalreview.com/Featured-Articles/596309-Single-Use-Bioprocessing-Technologies-Enabling-More-Rapid-Vaccines-Production/, Published 2023
  2. Is Sustainability Possible With Single-Use Technology?, https://www.bioprocessonline.com/doc/is-sustainability-possible-with-single-use-technology-0001, Published 2015
  3. Single-Use Bioprocessing Technologies Enabling More Rapid Vaccines Production, https://www.americanpharmaceuticalreview.com/Featured-Articles/596309-Single-Use-Bioprocessing-Technologies-Enabling-More-Rapid-Vaccines-Production/, Published 2023
Khalil Essani - Single Use Support

Khalil Essani

Product Line Management

Khalil Essani is Product Line Manager at Single Use Support. Scientist through and through he develops single-use technologies to further advance the biopharmaceutical industry during its shift towards single-use systems. Based on his extensive expertise and graduate in bioprocessing and biotechnology Khalil authors several publications. At Single Use Support he focuses on sterile products in the field of fluid and cold chain management.

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