EDITOR'S COMMENT
OILS & FATS INTERNATIONAL
VOL 37 NO 3 MARCH/ APRIL 2021
EDITORIAL: Editor: Serena Lim serenalim@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855066 Assistant Editor: Gill Langham gilllangham@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855157 SALES: Sales Manager: Mark Winthrop-Wallace markww@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855114 Sales Consultant: Anita Revis anitarevis@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855068 PRODUCTION: Production Editor: Carol Baird carolbaird@quartzltd.com
Fat - the unsung hero With COVID vaccination programmes underway around the world in a push to put the pandemic behind us, it’s worth paying tribute to a niche section of the oils and fats sector making these vaccines possible. Lipids (fat molecules) are being used in the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, with several companies recently announcing expanded production to meet demand. The ground-breaking element of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines is that they use messenger RNA (mRNA) – the genetic instructions that our cells read to make proteins (in this case, the instructions on how to make the coronavirus’ distinctive spike protein found on its surface). After injection, the vaccine enters our cells, which read the mRNA sequence and builds the spike proteins, which they display on their surface. This primes our immune system to build the antibodies and T-cells that will fight off a real coronavirus infection if it comes. Because mRNA quickly degrades in the body, it is wrapped in oily bubbles made of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), specifically four for the vaccines – an ionisable cationic lipid that encapsulates the negatively charged mRNA; a PEGylated lipid that helps control particle life and size; distearoylphosphatidylcholine (DSPC), a phospholipid that helps form the structure of the LNP; and cholesterol, which also contributes to structure.
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Very few companies worldwide supply these custom lipids in the quantities and to the standards needed for vaccine production. In February, one of them – Germany’s Merck KGaA – announced that it would “significantly accelerate the supply of urgently needed lipids” for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. BioNTech itself is also starting to make the lipids at a facility in Germany it recently acquired from Novartis, according to a Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) report. Also in February, Evonik Industries said it was investing to boost lipids production at two sites in Germany as part of a strategic agreement with BioNTech. The firm is a newcomer to large-scale speciality lipid manufacturing and expects to be making commercial quantities as early as the second half of this year, C&EN says. Meanwhile, British speciality chemical company Croda is increasing production in Alabama at its subsidiary, Avanti Polar Lipids, to supply Pfizer; while German pharmaceutical services firm CordenPharma has been investing in Switzerland, France and Colorado, USA, to supply lipids for Moderna’s vaccine, according to C&EN. The use of lipid nanoparticles in drug delivery systems is not new. Rather, it is their role in new RNA-based medicines utilising ground-breaking gene editing technology. Scientists at Tufts University, for example, reported in February that they had successfully used lipid nanoparticles to carry a mRNA gene editing packaging to livers in mice, reducing levels of LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol. Evonik’s health care business R&D vice president Stefan Randl sees his firm’s investment extending beyond vaccines to serve developers of next-generation mRNA-based medicines such as cancer immunotherapies, gene-editing therapeutics, and proteinreplacement therapy. “We really believe this mRNA trend is here to last,” he says.
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Lipid nanoparticles are just another illustration of the wide range of applications that oils and fats offer, from the most basic commodity to cutting-edge science. @oilsandfatsint
Oils & Fats International
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Comment March.April.indd 1
Serena Lim serenalim@quartzltd.com www.ofimagazine.com
17/03/2021 15:59:52
