INDUSTRIAL IMPACT, MEDICAL
Twist Bioscience | March 10, 2023
On March 9, 2023, Twist Bioscience Corporation, a leading firm providing high-quality synthetic DNA through its silicon platform, announced the launch of integrated antibody discovery services. This premium offering combines the company's synthetic libraries and AI machine learning with an in vivo immunization approach acquired through its acquisition of Abveris, also known as Twist Boston. This service provides customers with optimized, development-ready antibody candidates.
The combined team, now called Twist Biopharma Solutions, is led by Tracey Mullen, MBA, the senior vice president of biopharma for Twist Bioscience. This newly formed entity leverages years of industry expertise, scientific excellence, and proprietary technology to discover the best antibody candidate for therapeutic targets of interest.
Twist Biopharma Solutions offers an end-to-end workflow for centralized antibody discovery and optimization, including target validation, hit generation, lead selection, lead optimization, and lead characterization. Twist, supported by high-throughput DNA synthesis and IgG antibody production, constructs extensive and particular synthetic antibody libraries with discovery starting with either in vivo or in vitro diversity.
The newly integrated in vivo discovery approach from Abveris of single B cell screening and hybridoma discovery enables parallel paths where multiple technology methods can be leveraged to build a panel of highly diverse antibody leads with broad epitope coverage. In addition, this multi-pronged approach can increase the likelihood of discovering highly specific, high-affinity functional antibodies by sampling synthetic and natural diversity.
The South San Francisco and Boston biopharma teams were combined to create Twist Biopharma Solutions, led by Tracey Mullen. Aaron Sato, Ph.D., remains integrally involved in Twist Biopharma Solutions and, as a chief scientific officer of Twist Bioscience, extends his expertise across the organization. Tracey Mullen joined Twist Bioscience in November 2021 through the acquisition of Abveris. In April 2022, she took on the position of senior vice president of operations, driving the completion of the Factory of the Future in Wilsonville, Oregon, which began shipping products in January 2023. Before joining Twist, she served as CEO of Abveris and worked on the antibody discovery team at Biogen.
About Twist Bioscience
Twist Bioscience is a leading biotechnology company specializing in synthetic biology and genomics. It has developed a proprietary DNA synthesis platform that enables the production of custom-designed DNA strands faster, more accurately, and at a lower cost than traditional methods. In addition, Twist collaborates with partners across industries to develop customized DNA sequences for specific applications and offers a range of other products and services, such as oligonucleotides, synthetic genes, and custom panels for next-generation sequencing. The company has also developed a library of over 100 billion synthetic antibodies, which can be used for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
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CELL AND GENE THERAPY, INDUSTRIAL IMPACT
Azenta Life Sciences | February 28, 2023
On February 27, 2023, Azenta Life Sciences, a leading provider of life sciences solutions, announced the launch of its latest automated cryogenic storage system, the Cryo Store PicoTM. This new product is designed to store high-value biological samples used throughout various stages of the life sciences industry, from research and development to clinical use.
Azenta is already known for providing innovative automated cryogenic solutions such as the BioStore™ III Cryo and the CryoPod™ Carrier, and the Pico is the latest addition to its lineup. The product offers automated cryogenic solutions that are configured for laboratory and clinical procedures.
The Pico offers a variety of features for cell and gene therapy developers and manufacturers, including end-stage deployment in hospitals and clinics. It offers controlled access and traceability to support regulatory compliance with a compact footprint and is also user-friendly for laboratory personnel.
Interested parties can order the Pico now, and a live demonstration will take place at the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) 2023 International Conference in San Diego, California.
Pico's Product Manager Erica Waller commented, "Pico takes our proven automation capabilities and scales it down for the lab or the clinic, bringing the sample integrity and process rigor of automation closer to the point of use,"
(Source – PR Newswire)
About Azenta Life Sciences
Azenta is a leading life sciences solutions provider that helps to accelerate the development and delivery of impactful therapies to market. The company offers a comprehensive suite of cold-chain sample management solutions and genomic services for areas such as clinical research, drug development and advanced cell therapies. These solutions are trusted by some of the top biotech, pharmaceutical, academic, and healthcare institutions worldwide. Headquartered in Chelmsford, MA, Azenta has a global presence with operations across Europe, North America, and Asia. The company is committed to providing reliable, innovative, and high-quality solutions to meet the needs of its clients in the life sciences industry.
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AI
Benchling | January 27, 2023
On January 27, 2023, Benchling, the R&D cloud that powers the biotechnology sector, announced that it has passed the System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 certification. Schellman, an independent Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firm, conducted the Type 2 SOC 2 test according to the AICPA's SOC 2 standards.
Type 2 SOC 2 evaluates the design and operational performance of an organization's security processes and controls to meet its security goals and customer commitments during a predetermined evaluation period. Constant monitoring, evaluation, and modification of the requirements and security measures guarantee a secure environment for doing business.
The CISO at Benchling, Zach Powers, said, "Biotechs are managing an evolving landscape of security and compliance risks, and they require trusted software partners to help them meet these demands." He added, "At Benchling, we make the security, privacy, and compliance of our customers' sensitive data a company-wide, critical investment, not only through Type 2 SOC 2, but also through our best-in-class security team, our trust-but-verify processes, and our adherence to global compliance standards."
(Source – PR Newswire)
Benchling's R&D Cloud is the biotech R&D platform of choice, trusted by over 1,000 organizations worldwide in highly regulated areas such as biopharmaceuticals, agribusiness, industrials, and consumer packaged goods. Benchling is used by customers to securely store, standardize, and analyze crucial data related to the design and development of innovative biotech products. Benchling's objective is to protect client data; hence, the firm utilizes sophisticated data security and privacy protections and complies with tight regulatory regulations such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. The organization is also ISO 27001 certified.
The successful completion of Benchling's Type 2 SOC 2 inspection assures that its biotech clients can conduct crucial R&D work in the Benchling R&D Cloud while following the highest security requirements.
About Benchling
Benchling is a San Francisco-based firm that focuses on private and public life science cooperation by developing cloud-based software tools for digital DNA sequence editing, planning and performing experiments, evaluating data, and sharing research. More than 200,000 scientists from over 1,000 firms and 7,500 university and research institutions worldwide have used the Benchling R&D Cloud to create breakthrough discoveries and deliver the next generation of medicines, foods, and materials to market more quickly. In addition, the R&D cloud assists these companies in modernizing their scientific processes and accelerating their cooperation to transform the complexity of biology into world-changing outcomes.
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