In Seop Kim

Inactivation and removal of influenza A virus H1N1 during the manufacture of plasma derivatives

Although transmission of pandemic influenza A virus H1N1 2009 is still occurring globally, little has been reported about how this outbreak has affected the safety of plasma derivatives. To evaluate the safety of plasma derivatives, dedicated virus clearance processes used during their production were investigated for their effectiveness in eliminating this virus of recent concern. In this study, influenza A virus H1N1 strain A/NWS/33 (H1N1) was chosen as a surrogate. H1N1 was completely inactivated by fraction IV fractionation as well as pasteurization during the manufacture of albumin. H1N1 was also effectively removed into the precipitate by fraction III fractionation and completely inactivated by low pH incubation as well as pasteurization during the manufacture of intravenous immunoglobulin. H1N1 was completely inactivated within 1 min of solvent/detergent treatment using 0.3% tri (n-butyl) phosphate and 1.0% Triton X-100 and also completely inactivated within 10 min of dry-heat treatment at 98 °C during the manufacture of factor VIII. H1N1 was completely removed by virus filtration process using Viresolve NFP filter and also completely inactivated by pasteurization during the manufacture of anti-thrombin III. These results indicate that all the virus clearance processes commonly used have sufficient H1N1 reducing capacity to achieve a high margin of safety.

Cold ethanol fractionation and heat inactivation of hepatitis a virus during manufacture of albumin from human plasma

The purpose of the present study was to examine the efficacy and mechanism of fraction IV cold ethanol fractionation and pasteurization (60°C heat treatment for 10h), involved in the manufacture of albumin from human plasma, in the removal and/or inactivation of the hepatitis A virus (HAV). Samples from the relevant stages of the production process were spiked with HAV and the amount of virus in each fraction then quantified using a 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50). HAV was effectively partitioned from albumin during the fraction IV cold ethanol fractionation with a log reduction factor of 3.43. Pasteurization was also found to be a robust and effective step in inactivating HAV, where the titers were reduced from an initial titer of 7.60 log TCID50 to undetectable levels within 5 h of treatment. The log reduction factor achieved during pasteurization was≽4.76. Therefore, the current results indicate that the production process for albumin has sufficient HAV reducing capacity to achieve a high margin of virus safety.