Esco Debuts New Member of the Tide Motion Bioreactor Family, Designed for Biosafety Level 3/4 Virus Containment to Boost Pandemic Preparedness and Vaccine Self-Sufficiency

Key Points:

1. Esco Aster and Esco Lifesciences Group introduce the world’s first closed single-use bioreactor system, designed to meet Human and Animal Biosafety Levels (BSL) 3/4 standards for the safe culture of high-risk viruses, ensuring enhanced biosafety and containment during bioprocessing.
2. The CelCradle® + system plays a vital role in enhancing vaccine self-sufficiency, especially in response to potential global health crises such as Disease X as well as challenges in manufacturing vaccines for critical animal diseases like Foot-and-Mouth Disease and others.
3. Esco Aster offers a complete range of biocontainment solutions, from high-security research facilities for BSL 3 and BSL 4 pathogens to advanced air-handling and waste treatment systems. Additionally, Esco Aster’s CRDMO services, using CelCradle® tools, support the development and production of clinical trial materials and research services for viral and vaccine research.

SINGAPORE—10 January 2025—Esco Aster and Esco Lifesciences Group launch the world’s first closed single-use bioreactor system designed to meet Human/Animal Biosafety Levels (BSL) 3/4 standards. This groundbreaking innovation is represented by the Esco CelCradle® +, while the CelCradle® is specifically engineered for BSL 2 environments. Both systems have been developed through extensive biosafety risk assessments, following the ISO 13485 methodology. These assessments are verified by our in-house Biosafety Officer, who holds certifications from both NSF49 and the National University of Singapore's Professional Biorisk Management Course (BSL 3). The result is a state-of-the-art engineered solution for advanced biosafety, specifically designed to enable the safe handling of high-risk pathogens in ABSL/BSL 3/4 containment environments.

CelCradle® + serves as a closed, single-use, self-contained primary containment system for handling high-risk viruses, including those that have not yet been classified but may pose significant pandemic threats, such as potential "Disease X" viruses (term used to describe a hypothetical, unknown pathogen that could cause a global pandemic). By ensuring that even viruses with uncertain biosafety classifications are treated with the highest level of biocontainment, CelCradle® + supports pandemic preparedness efforts across diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccine development.

Real-world examples highlight the importance of advanced biocontainment solutions. For instance, certain vaccines, such as the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV), require handling in BSL 3 environments due to the stringent safety measures necessary when working with live virus cultures before inactivation. Similarly, Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), a highly contagious viral infection affecting livestock like cattle, swine, and sheep, often demands BSL 3 containment during research and vaccine development. As a transboundary animal disease (TAD), FMD continues to pose a major threat that disrupts local economies and undermine food security.

According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), FMD affects approximately 77% of the global livestock population especially in vulnerable regions like Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In countries like Uganda, FMD strains agricultural economies leading to high costs of vaccine imports from international partners like Egypt to combat the disease. Despite ongoing control efforts, recurrent outbreaks highlight the need for local vaccine production and advanced biocontainment solutions for faster, cost-effective responses.

Esco biosafety solutions, including the CelCradle® + system are critical tools for animal health research, providing the necessary containment to handle and study pathogens that could affect global livestock populations. Traditional methods for producing vaccines for diseases like FMD often rely on costly, labor-intensive manual roller bottle technology within specialized ABSL 3 facilities. This approach is not only expensive but also requires a highly skilled workforce—skills that can be difficult to maintain in countries with limited resources.

Beyond animal health, the CelCradle® + also plays a crucial role in supporting biothreat research, such as the development of countermeasures against bioterrorism or bio-warfare agents. Defense labs worldwide, including those focused on chemical, biological, and radiological threats, require high-containment environments to work safely with dangerous pathogens like plague, anthrax, and Ebola. Esco’s solutions support the safe isolation of these pathogens while contributing to vaccine development for military personnel and civilians exposed to biothreats. Additionally, the CelCradle® + can aid in developing vaccines for vector-borne diseases, such as those transmitted by mosquitoes, which are spreading to new regions due to climate change.

In addition to its bioreactor systems, Esco Aster offers comprehensive solutions for the design, build, and operation of BSL 3 and BSL 4 virus research, clinical development, and commercial manufacturing facilities. These solutions are suitable for greenfield, brownfield, and containerized AsterXpress™ facilities and include essential features like dual-redundant air-handling systems, effluent decontamination systems, and specialized waste management solutions. In addition to biosafety infrastructure, Esco Aster provides expert training in virus isolation, cell culture, and facility validation, ensuring that every facility meets rigorous biosafety and operational standards.

CelCradle® and CelCradle® + are available through Esco Lifesciences Group. Esco Aster uses these systems to provide contract research, development, and manufacturing services (CRDMO) across all stages of vaccine and biologic development—from research to clinical trial material production. At Esco, we are committed to advancing global vaccine production capacity and ensuring the highest levels of safety and efficiency in response to emerging health threats.

For more information about Esco CelCradle® and CelCradle® + plus Esco Aster’s biosafety solutions, visit us at: https://escovaccixcell.com/library/brochures, https://escoaster.com/Enterprise-Solutions, https://www.escolifesciences.com/ .

About Esco Aster

Esco Aster is a contract research development and manufacturing organization (CRDMO) founded and deeply rooted by scientists enabling fellow scientists to translate their bench work into life-saving diagnostics, medicines, therapies, cosmeceuticals, and cellular agriculture, at affordable prices for self-sufficiency of the country. We make complex manufacturing simple via our proprietary best-in-class continuous manufacturing platforms providing a reliable and linearly scalable outcome. Learn more at escoaster.com and connect with Esco Aster on LinkedIn

About Esco Lifesciences Group

Esco Lifesciences is a world-leading life science company with a diversified portfolio and sales in over 100 countries. As a manufacturer of laboratory and biopharma equipment, and IVF medical devices, Esco offers tailored solutions that fit the needs of laboratories in various industries. Esco Lifesciences contributes to meet the challenges of the 21st century with a diverse range of business units. The company continuously innovates its products to help the clinical and industrial laboratories achieve successful conclusions in research and development, quality control, and analysis. We continue to provide reliable world-class equipment to help pharmaceutical companies make their products safer and more cost-effective. And with the increasing demand of the IVF industry, we have developed efficient ART equipment to enable equitable access to infertility care.