Development and use of a novel in vitro assay for testing of diphtheria toxoid in combination vaccines

Testing of diphtheria vaccines for routine lot release relies heavily on the use of in vivo potency assays. However, consistency of production is also recognised as an important feature of vaccine manufacture, and in vitro assays are superior to in vivo assays for providing this information. In adsorbed vaccines, antigen and adjuvant are the major components contributing to immunogenicity and are therefore critical factors to be evaluated as part of consistency testing. Here we describe a simple and sensitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) which has been developed to quantify diphtheria toxoid antigen in combined vaccine products and can also be used to monitor the degree of adsorption. This assay can be applied to a variety of multi-component vaccines and is robust, specific and highly sensitive, with a limit of quantification of approximately 0.005 Lf/ml. The antigen assay is an excellent test to characterise vaccines and monitor trends in production. For well established vaccines, the antigen assay could be used alongside other in vitro methods to provide a more informative product profile, with the ultimate aim of reducing the requirement for in vivo potency assays and therefore the number of animals required for routine batch release testing.