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经济影响方面，新冠肺炎疫情都不同于一个多世纪以来的任何一次。由传染性SARS-CoV-2病毒引发的新冠肺炎感染人数和死亡人数持续上升。特别是，“平坦化曲线”的一个主要障碍是用于诊断检测的廉价、可靠和具有血清反应性的SARS-CoV-2蛋白来源的可用性。森科尔是加拿大首屈一指的综合能源公司，是北美第五大能源公司，作为世界上最大的独立能源公司之一，在全球舞台上占有一席之地。森科尔正在通过这个拟议的项目继续开展由NSERC学院和社区社会创新基金资助的先前项目的工作，该项目专注于促进快速检测，以识别已接触并对最新的SARS-CoV-2病毒具有免疫力的人。拟议的项目是上一个项目完成的工作的继续，将重点优化和扩大生产SARS-CoV-2 RBD的发酵工艺，以用于大规模血清学测试，并使该技术适用于更广泛的病毒。该项目的成功完成将使目前的工艺能够扩大规模和优化，并为商业化做准备。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加强加拿大的生物经济。需要一种高效和扩大的方法来产生RBD蛋白，用于血清学测试和其他类似产品，以推动病毒测试的新发展。

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.