4 new viral clearance suites, 4 service models, all 4 you

Flexibility has been the key driving force behind the success and growth of Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories’ Viral Clearance program. “When we introduced four levels of service solutions for viral clearance studies, our clients responded well. They value our tailored programs to address all their scientific, safety and scheduling challenges,” says Dr. Kate Bergmann, Manager of Viral Safety and Clearance. To provide additional capacity, the Group is expanding to include four additional Viral Clearance Suites. This growing capacity, along with four flexible service models, enhances the client’s experience and provides significant time and cost savings; here’s why:

Viral clearance studies are a critical element toward ensuring that an acceptable level of viral safety has been achieved for biological products. The goal of these studies is to demonstrate that the manufacturing purification process has the ability to inactivate and/or remove a broad variety of virus types, including those viruses known to contaminate or which may possibly contaminate the starting materials.

Typically, individual processing steps in the manufacturing process, such as column chromatography, solution inactivation, and virus removal filtration steps, are scaled down from manufacturing- scale to bench-scale. In the viral clearance study, the input material for each step is spiked with high-titer virus, and both input and output samples from the step are collected and quantitatively assayed for virus. The difference in the amount of virus spiked into the step and that found in the output sample represents the amount of virus cleared by the step.

As manufacturers cannot bring virus into their manufacturing facilities due to the risk of contamination, viral clearance studies are almost always outsourced to companies such as Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories. Sample generation in a viral clearance study has typically involved the hands-on participation of the client. In the most common scenario, Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories’ personnel and client personnel work side-by-side to set up the studies, spike the steps with virus, and collect the samples for analysis in the virus testing laboratory.

The time that clients spend in the viral clearance lab equates to time spent away from their manufacturing responsibilities. Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories is aware that sending client personnel to assist in the generation of viral clearance samples can be an inconvenience for many clients due to a shortage of personnel, lack of time and travel costs. To provide additional options for the client, Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories offers these four viral clearance service models:

Level 1 – Basic Service: The client provides all materials and down-scale procedures and performs the study in Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories’ viral clearance suites.
Level 2 – Enhanced Service: The client provides all materials and down-scale procedures and performs all column chromatography steps. Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories personnel perform inactivation and virus removal filtration steps.
Level 3 – Full Service: The client provides all materials and down-scale procedures for transfer to Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories personnel, who perform all clearance steps.
Level 4 – Turnkey Service: The client provides a description of the full-scale manufacturing process. Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories personnel develop and validate the down-scale procedures and perform all clearance steps.

Our viral clearance program includes the following:

Multiple virus clearance suites
Multiple AKTA chromatography systems
Capacity to accommodate studies with minimal delay
Variety of validated and well characterized viral stocks to support animal and human-derived products
Viral stocks with titers of 107 pfu/mL or greater
Purified virus stocks
Validated infectivity and qPCR assays
Infectivity assays performed real-time
Large volume assays for increased sensitivity

Viral clearance customers rely on us for the following:

Highly qualified staff with over 70 years cumulative experience in the industry and thousands of studies performed
Ongoing program improvements, such as:

Additions to our virus panel, including new/emerging viruses
Improvements in virus assays
Improvements in virus stock titer & purity

Experience with “unusual” products, including plant- and tissue-derived products
Ongoing regulatory support during study design & performance, and after completion
Cleaning validation studies to quantify the elimination of viruses during the cleaning procedures used at your manufacturing facility
Collaboration with the industry to evaluate and improve new technologies for viral clearance

For all stages throughout the development, manufacturing and release of your biological product, Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories offers comprehensive, fully cGMP-compliant Viral Clearance Services; contact Business Development for more information.