Leveraging Impedance Flow Cytometry for Optimizing Phage Production: A Novel Approach to Monitoring Bacterial Cell Growth during Phage Production
Summary
Biopharmaceutical Biotechnology
Innocheck
Amphasys AG / Laboratory of Bacteriophages and Phage Therapy, Center for Research and Innovation in Pharmaceutical Clinical Sciences (CRISP), Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Dr. Grégory Resch / Cell Production Center (CPC), Service of Pharmacy, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Dr. Jean-François Brunet
Carmen Jungo Rhême
Skills directory
February 2025 - August 2025
The main goal is the evaluation of Impedance Flow Cytometry (ICF) as a monitoring tool in phage production processes. It will be assessed if bacterial cell concentration and viability can effectively be monitored by IFC during phage amplification, and how IFC, compares to traditional methods like Optical Density (OD) and Colony-Forming Unit (CFU) counts in terms of accuracy, reliability, and ease of use.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a critical global health threat, emphasizing the urgent need for alternative treatments like bacteriophage (phage) therapy, which uses viruses to specifically infect and kill bacteria. A major challenge in phage production is optimizing the step where phages infect bacterial host cells and replicate, which is crucial for maximizing phage yield and ensuring production efficiency.
This project proposes to evaluate the use of IFC, specifically the novel Ampha X30 analyzer, for real-time monitoring of bacterial cell concentration and viability during the phage amplification process. Unlike traditional methods such as OD or CFU counts, IFC provides rapid, dye-free, and marker-free measurements of both cell count and viability without the need for incubation.
Using Pseudomonas aeruginosa phages as a case study, the proposed project aims to demonstrate tht IFC is a suitable and promizing technology for the optimization of the production conditions during phage amplification, improving phage yield, and potenitally reducing endotoxin release during the phage amplication process step. The innovative use of IFC in phage production could revolutionize monitoring and enhance the scalability and reproducibility of phage manufacturing.