From a Yeouido-sized freezer to a jet plane … 007 Development of a vaccine against Pfizer

Enter 2020.11.19 13:00

Pfizer builds giant freezer to create corona vaccine
Even the launch of corporate jets to avoid delays in the production process
First commercialization of mRNA vaccines … Maintaining extremely low temperatures is the key
It is essential to keep the temperature low even during storage … “Developing countries can’t even jump in”

Pfizer, an American pharmaceutical company, decided to turn a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Calamer, Michigan into a “ giant freezer ” when it launched development of the corona vaccine in March. It covers an area of ​​2000 acres (8 square kilometers). It is slightly smaller than the entire area of ​​Yeouido, Seoul, including the Han River.

The success or failure of the corona vaccine depends on the temperature. If a person does not keep below -70 degrees Celsius until inoculation, they are very likely to deteriorate. Pfizer plans to transport the vaccine in a specially made cooler containing self-made dry ice. Jets are also launched from time to time to shorten the vaccine production period as much as possible.

The Washington Post (WP) said on 18 (local time) that a research result showed that the corona vaccine developed by Pfizer with German Bioentech had high efficacy, but a greater challenge for mass production and distribution. awaits. The vaccine manufacturing process disclosed by Pfizer is reminiscent of Operation 007.

Pfizer’s vaccine is the key to creating a genetic material called mRNA and injecting it into the human body. This genetic material contains the genetic information of the dendritic protein on the surface of the coronavirus, so when it enters the body, it can be tricked into doing the same thing. When the proteins are produced, the body thinks that the virus has penetrated and an immune response appears that suppresses the infection.

This is the first time this type of vaccine has been produced for sale. Therefore, for pharmaceutical companies, all the procedures from securing production plants and raw materials to storage and transport are inevitably more careful. The manufacturing process deserves to be established over at least a year, but this time due to the unprecedented Corona pandemic (a global pandemic), the procedure has been shortened to several months.

Pfizer manufactures the raw material for mRNA in a St. Louis, Missouri facility. Scientists drilled a hole in the E. coli bacterium to allow genetic information from the dendritic protein to proliferate and purify cells for two weeks. The resulting material is cut, put in a clean bottle, frozen and transported to Andover, Massachusetts and Germany. Right now, Pfizer’s jet is being used.

In Andover and Germany, scientists produce mRNAs, purify them, and freeze them in specially designed bags. Next, the mRNA is combined with lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), which are small pieces of fat, which are a kind of packaging job to prevent the RNA from being broken down from exposure to enzymes in the blood. Even while this process is in progress, the very low temperature must be maintained to avoid contamination or spoilage.

The vaccine is then transferred to a manufacturing facility in Calamer and placed in glass bottles. One vial contains the amount of vaccine that can be inoculated to 5 people. Pfizer fills the vaccine into 600 glass bottles per minute on two production lines, then places it in a box full of dry ice and freezes it at minus 70 degrees Celsius.

Transporting vaccines is as difficult as manufacturing. As soon as the vaccine arrives at the hospital or pharmacy, the transporter must replace the dry ice or place the vial directly in the cryogenic freezer. Dry ice should be changed every 5 days and the freezer should not be opened more than twice a day.

Due to this complexity and delicacy, experts predict that Pfizer’s corona vaccine will only be available in developed countries, even if it is commercially available. An analysis suggests that launching a vaccine in developing countries will also not be easy. Experts agreed that pharmaceutical companies have no choice but to release a freeze-dried version of the vaccine or further expand production availability.

Unlike Pfizer, the Modena vaccine is known to be refrigerated while using mRNA, but the company can only supply half of Pfizer’s. Modena explained that the vaccine can be stored for up to 30 days at 2-8 degrees Celsius and up to 6 months at -20 degrees Celsius.