The biopharma company ProBioGen has announced it has launched AGE1.CR.ReX, a next-generation avian designer cell line for stable, high-titer poxvirus production and rapid generation of recombinant modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA).
The firm said the new platform has been designed to "accelerate and simplify the development of modern poxvirus-based vaccines and oncolytic viruses," while also enhancing genetic stability and manufacturing reliability.
It is enabled for switchable gene expression and the TetherexX System — ProBioGen's proprietary approach for rapid generation and rescue of pure recombinant MVA.
Built on ProBioGen's established GMP AGE1.CR.pIX lineage, AGE1.CR.ReX has been engineered to enable inducible control of transgene expression during virus production.
The company said that this eliminates selection pressure against difficult or unstable transgenes — a common challenge in poxvirus vector development that can result in reduced viral titers, inconsistent batch performance and repeated plaque purification cycles.
The new AGE1.CR.ReX host cell line aims to address these issues by enabling more stable recombinant MVA generation with higher productivity and increased process robustness, allowing developers to streamline the manufacturing of production-ready virus candidates.
Combined with the TetherexX System, the AGE1.CR.ReX platform offers the following advantages:
- pure recombinant MVA generated in as few as three passages
- increased reliability and success rates through robust tetherin-based selection
- high-throughput compatibility for efficient screening of vaccine candidates
- suitable for adherent and suspension cultures in chemically defined media.
The TetherexX system has already been used together with the AGE1.CR.ReX cell line in ProBioGen’s and Minapharm's recent initiative towards an African Bundibugyo Ebola virus (BDBV) vaccine.
In addition, AGE1.CR.ReX is designed for applications where conventional systems may fail to deliver both transgene stability and high viral titers and is also well-suited for the development of oncolytic viruses and personalised medicines, as well as for supporting pandemic preparedness programmes.
"In developing AGE1.CR.ReX, we focused on solving one of the bottlenecks that may impact recombinant poxvirus generation: maintaining stable transgene expression without compromising yields," said Dr Ingo Jordan, Vice President, Vaccine Strategies at ProBioGen.
The combination of inducible transgene control and the TetherexX System enables faster development timelines and more robust industrial manufacturing workflows for vaccine and viral vector developers.
"AGE1.CR.ReX and TetherexX are essential innovations for epidemic preparedness," added Dr Volker Sandig, Chief Scientific Officer at ProBioGen, "They open the door for MVA as one of the rapid response vaccine platforms."
Without these technologies, accelerated development and reliable manufacture of an MVA-based BDBV vaccine would not be possible.