Influenza viruses require an acidic endosomal environment to uncoat and replicate efficiently. Standard Vero cells struggle with sufficient acidification, creating a yield bottleneck in cell-culture-based vaccine manufacturing. In a new publication in Vaccine, our collaborators at Capricorn Technologies, alongside Evercyte, LT Biotech, and the Slovak Medical University, present AEX-1: a novel Vero cell variant engineered to overcome this exact bottleneck. 💡 Key Findings: Enhanced Endosomal Acidification: AEX-1 features a measurably more acidic endosomal-lysosomal compartment, a phenotype that remains stable across 50+ population doublings. Dramatic Yield Improvements: At the 72-hour harvest point, AEX-1 achieved H1N1 and Influenza B vaccine virus titers 0.9–1.7 log₁₀ higher than parental Vero cells—approaching traditional egg yields. Higher Yields for Clinical Isolates: For a [...]