Leinfelden, Germany. Recent infectious disease events—from hantavirus outbreaks and meningitis cases to recurring disease outbreaks in livestock farming—highlight the need for flexibly scalable vaccine manufacturing processes. To address this challenge, Stuttgart-based technology company KyooBe Tech has developed a platform designed to accelerate vaccine production. This technology is now also available to external users for studies at the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI).
The platform is based on Low-Energy Electron Irradiation (LEEI), an innovative technology approach for biopharmaceutical applications. This process enables the rapid and gentle inactivation of pathogens in liquids within seconds to minutes. During irradiation, the pathogens’ nucleic acids are fragmented while the integrity of their surface proteins is largely preserved—a crucial factor for vaccine efficacy. The technology is suitable for both human and veterinary vaccines.
The effectiveness of LEEI has been demonstrated by the Fraunhofer IZI in various studies covering a broad spectrum of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites. “LEEI technology enables the reliable and rapid inactivation of pathogens while preserving the antigens relevant for the immune response. This has been demonstrated, among others, for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), Influenza A, and various bacterial pathogens,” explains Dr. Jasmin Fertey, Head of the Head of Vaccine Technologies Unit at Fraunhofer IZI.
Building on this research, KyooBe Tech has translated the technology into its eFIT Lab platform. The platform is now open to external partners and customers, enabling the evaluation of their processes at two renowned research locations. One of these sites is the Fraunhofer IZI in Leipzig, where vaccine development and testing have been key research priorities for many years. The institute provides access to facilities including its in-house Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory and a state-of-the-art animal research center.
Irradiation technologies are already widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The inactivation of pathogens in liquids using LEEI opens up a new field of application for the production of inactivated vaccines. While established chemical methods for vaccine manufacturing are effective, they are also time-consuming, generate toxic waste, and can negatively impact product quality. “The main advantages of the LEEI approach are speed and safety: no chemical additives need to be removed, and the process operates with reproducible and precisely controllable parameters. This addresses a key requirement in modern vaccine and bioprocess development,” says Dr. Andrea Traube, CEO of KyooBe Tech.
The current stage of development enables the processing of up to 300 mL per hour, while scale-up to industrial throughput levels of up to 100 liters per hour is already in development.
With eFIT, KyooBe Tech offers far more than a technological platform. The company combines deep expertise in biotechnology, process engineering, and automation to efficiently support the complex processes involved in vaccine development. By integrating biopharmaceutical process knowledge with comprehensive engineering capabilities, KyooBe Tech develops application-specific solutions from a single source. This approach helps accelerate process workflows and facilitates the faster and safer transfer of innovative technologies into biotechnological production.
The combination of speed and local deployability makes LEEI a promising approach for pandemic preparedness and crisis response. In the future, vaccines could be produced in a decentralized manner—directly at manufacturing sites or in resource-limited regions. As such, the technology could make an important contribution to a more resilient global healthcare infrastructure.
Beyond the production of inactivated vaccines, LEEI also offers potential for other biopharmaceutical applications, including virus inactivation in biological products and cell culture media, as well as future applications in cell and gene therapy.
About KyooBe
KyooBe Tech GmbH is an innovative technology company providing advanced automated platform technologies for biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Founded in 2020 as a subsidiary of the Bausch+Ströbel Group, KyooBe Tech today employs an interdisciplinary team of 30 highly qualified engineers and biotechnologists. The company focuses on the development and commercialization of the eFIT pathogen inactivation platform as well as modular automation solutions for the manufacture of personalized cell and gene therapies.
Contact Information
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KyooBe Tech GmbH Max-Lang-Straße 56/1 70771 Leinfelden-Echterdingen |
Silja Donadel Marketing Manager Silja.donadel@kyoobe.tech +49 711 252785-17
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