iScience (Mar 2024)
Chemical and biological characterization of vaccine adjuvant QS-21 produced via plant cell culture
- Xiangmin Lv,
- Jesse Martin,
- Heather Hoover,
- Bishnu Joshi,
- Margaret Wilkens,
- David A. Ullisch,
- Thomas Leibold,
- John S. Juchum,
- Sanket Revadkar,
- Barbara Kalinovska,
- Justin Keith,
- Adam Truby,
- Gui Liu,
- Elaine Sun,
- John Haserick,
- Jon DeGnore,
- Joseph Conolly,
- Adrian V.S. Hill,
- John Baldoni,
- Charlotte Kensil,
- Dan Levey,
- Alexandra J. Spencer,
- Gilbert Gorr,
- Mark Findeis,
- Antoine Tanne
Affiliations
- Xiangmin Lv
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- Jesse Martin
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- Heather Hoover
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- Bishnu Joshi
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- Margaret Wilkens
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- David A. Ullisch
- Phyton Biotech GmbH, Ahrensburg, Germany
- Thomas Leibold
- Phyton Biotech GmbH, Ahrensburg, Germany
- John S. Juchum
- Phyton Biotech LLC, 1503 Cliveden Avenue, Delta, BC V3M 6P7, Canada
- Sanket Revadkar
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- Barbara Kalinovska
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- Justin Keith
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- Adam Truby
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Gui Liu
- SaponiQx, Lexington MA, USA
- Elaine Sun
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- John Haserick
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- Jon DeGnore
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- Joseph Conolly
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- Adrian V.S. Hill
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- John Baldoni
- SaponiQx, Lexington MA, USA
- Charlotte Kensil
- SaponiQx, Lexington MA, USA
- Dan Levey
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- Alexandra J. Spencer
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Hunter Medical Research Institute, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, College of Health, Medicine & Wellbeing; Immune Health Program, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
- Gilbert Gorr
- Phyton Biotech GmbH, Ahrensburg, Germany
- Mark Findeis
- Agenus, Inc, Lexington MA, USA
- Antoine Tanne
- SaponiQx, Lexington MA, USA; Corresponding author
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 27,
no. 3
p. 109006
Abstract
Summary: Many vaccines, including those using recombinant antigen subunits, rely on adjuvant(s) to enhance the efficacy of the host immune responses. Among the few adjuvants clinically approved, QS-21, a saponin-based immunomodulatory molecule isolated from the tree bark of Quillaja saponaria (QS) is used in complex formulations in approved effective vaccines. High demand of the QS raw material as well as manufacturing scalability limitation has been barriers here. We report for the first-time successful plant cell culture production of QS-21 having structural, chemical, and biologic, properties similar to the bark extracted product. These data ensure QS-21 and related saponins are broadly available and accessible to drug developers.
