Scale Up and Optimization of the Fermentation Process for the Production of SARSCoV-2 RBD for Large Scale Serological Testing

无论是在全球传播还是对经济影响方面，COVID-19 大流行都与世界一个多世纪以来所见的任何情况都不同。由传染性 SARS-CoV-2 病毒引起的 COVID-19 感染和死亡人数持续上升。 特别是，“压平曲线”的一个主要障碍是能否获得廉价、可靠且具有血清学反应性的 SARS-CoV-2 蛋白来源，用于诊断测试。森科尔是加拿大首屈一指的综合能源公司、北美第五大能源公司，并作为全球最大的独立能源公司之一在全球舞台上占有一席之地。 Suncor 通过该拟议项目继续开展先前由 NSERC 学院和社区社会创新基金资助的项目，该项目的重点是促进快速测试，以确定已接触过最新病毒 SARS-CoV-2 并对其产生免疫力的人。 拟议项目是上一个项目已完成工作的延续，重点是优化和扩大用于大规模血清学测试的 SARS-CoV-2 RBD 生产的发酵工艺，并使该技术适用于更广泛的病毒。该项目的成功完成将扩大和优化当前工艺，并为商业化做好准备。该项目的成功还将通过开发可在加拿大实施的制造工艺来帮助加强加拿大的生物经济。需要一种有效且规模化的方法来生成用于血清学检测和其他类似产品的 RBD 蛋白，以推动病毒检测的新发展。

The COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything the world has seen in over a century, both in terms of global spread and economic impact. Caused by the infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus, the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths continue to rise. In particular, a major barrier to "flattening the curve" has been the availability of cheap, reliable and serologically-reactive sources of SARS-CoV-2 proteins for use in diagnostic testing. Suncor is Canada's premier integrated energy company, the fifth largest North American energy company and has a place on the global stage as one of the largest independent energy companies in the world. Suncor through this proposed project is continuing the work on a previous project funded by NSERC College and Community Social Innovation Fund that focused on facilitating a rapid test to identify people that have been exposed and become immune to the latest virus called SARS-CoV-2. The proposed project is a continuation of the work completed in the previous project and will focus on the optimization and scale up the fermentation process for the production of SARS-CoV-2 RBD for large scale serological testing and adapt the technology to a wider array of viruses. Successful completion of this project will allow up scale and optimization of the current process and prepare for commercialization. The success of this project will also help strengthen the Canadian bio-economy by developing a manufacturing process that can be implemented in Canada. An efficient and scaled-up approach to generate RBD protein for serological testing and other similar products is needed to drive new developments in viral testing.