Viral Vector Development

Viral vectors have been used in 70% of gene therapy clinical trials. Especially, significant advances in vector engineering, delivery, and safety have placed viral gene therapy at the forefront of modern medicine. To reduce investment risk and accelerate the process from concept to commercialization, Creative Biolabs provides full-service solutions including preclinical safety testing, data verification, feasibility & commercialization assessment, clinical pharmacology, program management, clinical regulatory, etc., all of which can be tailored to your specific requirements.

Viral Vectors

Because of the native tropism, particular viruses have been selected as gene delivery vehicles to specific cell types while avoiding immunosurveillance by an infected host. Substantial progress in modifying viral vectors using diverse techniques allows a broad tropism allowing gene expression in a wide range of host cells. Indisputably, these engineered viruses show great promise for the treatment of various diseases, such as metabolic, cardiovascular, muscular, hematologic, ophthalmologic, infectious diseases and different types of cancer.

Fig.1 Schematic representation of several types of viral vectors.

The spectrum of viral vectors is very broad, including RNA and DNA viruses with transient short-term and permanent long-term expression. Several types of viruses, including retrovirus (RV) and lentivirus (LV), adenovirus (Adv), adeno-associated virus (AAV), and herpes simplex virus (HSV), have been developed as gene delivery vehicles, each presenting advantages and disadvantages from the safety, efficacy and manufacturing perspective.

Table.1 Comparison of best-study viral vector

Rational Design of Virus Vectors

Viruses can be engineered to present new properties, including enhanced targeting abilities and resistance to immune responses, to efficiently deliver exogenous genes. At present, design methods include:

• The use of bifunctional adaptors, which combine a vector-binding region with a novel functional domain, can endow vector systems with new capabilities.
• Pseudo-typing with an alternate capsid or viral attachment proteins (VAPs) to entail substitution of a VAP from one serotype with that of another.
• Generation of mosaic or chimeric particles.
• Genetic engineering of VAP to insert peptide or point mutations.

Creative Biolabs offers a full suite of integrated solutions to help you make educated, faster and more complete early drug development decisions, to ensure a rapid and smooth transition from proof of concept to first-in-human trials and commercialization. We can tailor a customized, best-fit solution to assess and manage your viral gene therapy project from beginning to end. If you are interested in our services, please feel free to contact us for more information.