SCIENCE APPLIED WHERE IT MATTERS
We believe that current viral vector optimization technologies fall short because they fail to address a fundamental challenge, innate cellular antiviral defenses. Viral vectors used in gene therapy and vaccine applications trigger these antiviral defenses which prevents optimal production, leading to lower yield, efficiency, and limited scalability. Virica has developed a unique approach to addressing this challenge.
UNLOCK YOUR POTENTIAL WITH VIRAL SENSITIZERS
Virica has developed a library of Viral Sensitizers (VSE™) that help to reduce these antiviral defenses during production. VSEs alter cellular signaling and dampen antiviral defenses. This unlocks the potential for higher yields, consistent scaleup, and improved critical quality attributes (CQAs) based on application.
SMALL MOLECULE – BIG IMPACT
WHAT ARE VIRAL SENSITIZERS (VSEs)?
VSEs are patented small molecules, including known drugs and novel synthetic compounds, that transiently attenuate antiviral pathways in cells thus enhancing virus production. VSEs are a simple additive introduced at time of infection or transfection and leaves no residual trace after purification.
The NRC’s collaboration with Virica …brings us one step closer to accelerating the development of affordable and accessible … cell and gene therapies….
We set up a collaboration with Virica to test on human embryonic kidney cells producing AAV8…to see if VSEs drive productivity in a dynamic system, not just flatware.
I’ve been researching the concept that innate cellular responses negatively impact vector production and felt it was imperative to test VSEs. I didn’t anticipate how significant their magnitude of enhancement would be both in terms of yield and full particle encapsidation.”
EVALUATED IN OVER 50 APPLICATIONS
APPLICATIONS
Our VSEs have been evaluated in over 50 viral vector manufacturing applications across a wide range of cell lines and viral products. VSEs are primarily used to enhance viral titer, and vector quality attributes through scale-up. Virica has developed a compound library along with high-throughput workflows to formulate the optimal VSE combination for each cell substrate and target viral product.
TYPICAL APPLICATIONS
| Cell Substrate | Product |
|---|---|
| HEK293 | AAV |
| HEK293T | Lentivirus |
| Eggs | Influenza |
| BHK-21 | MVA |
VSEs have been evaluated in over 50 applications
