Medical, Industry Outlook

PhenomeX Launches Beacon Select™ Optofluidic System with Opto® B Discovery Workflows

PhenomeX Launches Beacon Select™

PhenomeX Inc. the functional cell biology company, announced the launch of Beacon Select™ optofluidic system with Opto® B Discovery workflows for antibody discovery.

The Opto B Discovery workflows, with their cutting-edge technologies and features, enable scientists to find lead candidate antibodies tailored to their specific challenges and changing needs. Combined with the value-matched Beacon Select system, more customers may access these propriety antibody discovery applications, but with the optimum level of features that meet their research and budgetary needs. PhenomeX's optofluidic platform is now a standard to deliver optimal antibodies with speed, as highlighted recently in the high-impact journal Cell, where antibodies against COVID-19 variants were discovered on the Beacon system six months before Omicron emergence.

Beacon Select for Antibody Discovery Workflow Feature

Opto B Discovery workflows on the Beacon Select system enable scientists to accelerate antibody screening and hit generation to find lead candidate antibodies and are ideally suited for small- to mid-sized biopharma and CDMOs/CROs. This contrasts with the flagship four-chip Beacon system enabled for antibody discovery, optimized for the highest screening throughputs demanded by large biopharma and established CDMOs/CROs.

The Beacon Select system enables rapid function-first selection of single B cells with the best characteristics for any antibody application, including antibody therapeutics, diagnostics, and reagents. In addition, the Opto B Discovery workflows offer users highly customizable assays to assess antigen and epitope specificity, species or variant cross-reactivity, and functional properties, all in a single-day workflow. By selecting and recovering sequences of only the most desirable antibodies with favorable attributes, users can reduce overall bioprocessing costs, improve the probability of campaign success, and shorten timelines to lead candidates. When combined with PhenomeX's catalog of best-in-class reagents and consumables for mouse, human, and rabbit B cell repertoires, customers can do all this against even the hardest antigen targets, including G coupled-protein receptors (GPCRs) and ion channels, to accelerate antibody discovery beyond traditional methods available today.

PhenomeX participation at 19th Annual PEGS Boston Conference & Expo

PhenomeX is participating at the 19th annual Protein Engineering & Cell Therapy Summit (PEGS) conference and expo being held from May 15-19 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Mass. At the conference, the Company will feature its optofluidic and proteomic platform technologies, including the new Beacon Select system, in booth #517 and present two posters and podium presentations. Attendees can explore demonstrations of the technology and learn more about how PhenomeX's products can advance and accelerate our understanding of cellular function along the continuum of scientific discovery, bioprocessing, clinical research, and immunotherapy development.

About PhenomeX Inc.

PhenomeX is empowering scientists to leverage the full potential of each cell and drive the next era of functional cell biology that will advance human health. We enable scientists to reveal the most complete insights on cell function and obtain a full view of the behavior of each cell. Our unique suite of proven high-throughput tools and services offer unparalleled resolution and speed, accelerating the insights that are key to advancing discoveries that can profoundly improve the prevention and treatment of disease. Our award-winning platforms are used by researchers across the globe, including those at the top 15 global pharmaceutical companies and approximately 85% of leading U.S. comprehensive cancer centers.

Spotlight

Spotlight

Related News

Industry Outlook

Virica Expands Bioprocessing Capabilities with Carleton University Partnership

Virica Biotech | January 17, 2024

Virica Biotech Inc. (“Virica”), a leading developer of cell enhancers for scaling of viral vector as well as cell and gene therapy manufacturing will expand its bioprocessing services through a partnership with Carleton University. Slated to open this spring, Virica’s new facility at the university multiplies the Company’s capacity to provide high throughput virology services for customers looking to optimize production of their cell and gene therapies. “Carleton’s new Health Sciences Building provides us with greater access to modern infrastructure and analytical expertise,” said Jean Simon Diallo, Ph.D., CEO of Virica Biotech. “Their state-of-the-art analytical research facilities and world-class researchers across multiple disciplines open the door to exciting opportunities for partnering with Carleton University as we continue to invest to meet customer demand.” “We are very pleased to welcome Virica Biotech to the Carleton campus,” said Rafik Goubran, Ph.D., Vice-President (Research and International) and Chancellor’s Professor, Carleton University. “This multi-year, multi-million-dollar research and infrastructure partnership will help drive innovation and talent development in the Ottawa region for the creation and manufacturing of advanced therapies.” This partnership expands on Carleton’s history of supporting Ottawa biotechnology companies. The new open concept facility will include high throughput equipment to accelerate Virica’s bioprocess development and optimizations. In addition to expanded modern infrastructure, this new location enables the development and recruitment of world-class talent with experiential learning and training opportunities for Carleton students. Through this partnership, Carleton will coordinate the establishment of a scholarship fund designed to empower graduate students from traditionally underrepresented groups in science. About Virica Biotech Virica develops cell enhancers for viral vectors that improve the yield and quality of vaccines and cell and gene therapies, allowing developers to economically deploy their products at scale. Virica’s Viral Sensitizer (VSE™) platform reduces production inefficiencies caused by anti-viral defenses in manufacturing cells. Purpose formulated VSE combinations substantially increase manufacturing yields and reduce the cost of goods for a range of life-changing products, including vaccines, gene therapies, and cell therapies. About Carleton University Carleton University is a dynamic, research-intensive institution that engages in partnerships to address the world’s most pressing challenges. The university’s corporate collaborations bring together world-class companies, researchers and a new generation of talent with over 30,000 students to deliver innovations and results that are driving a more prosperous, sustainable future.

Read More

Cell and Gene Therapy

Solvias to Perform Release Testing on World's First CRISPR-based Gene-Editing Therapy

Solvias | January 23, 2024

Solvias, a global provider of chemistry, manufacturing, and control (CMC) analytics, announced that it will perform analytical release testing services on the world's first CRISPR/Cas9 genome-edited cell therapy. The company has signed a long-term agreement with Vertex Pharmaceuticals for CASGEVY™ (exagamglogene autotemcel or exa-cel) which received U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD) in patients 12 years and older with recurrent vaso-occlusive crises. Solvias and Vertex Pharmaceuticals have worked together for several years to develop and validate test methods that are critical for the final release of patients' own edited cells, so that they can be delivered back to patients. The companies' collaboration included establishing the testing methods that will be scaled for commercializing CASGEVY. Solvias also has invested significantly in preparing one of its global facilities to support the commercial release work for this transformative therapy. Archie Cullen, Chief Executive Officer, Solvias, stated "Solvias is honored to be playing a critical role in delivering this breakthrough therapy to patients. Our decades of experience offering comprehensive GMP analytical services uniquely positions us to partner with companies in bringing their therapies to market. This collaboration highlights our deep scientific knowledge and creative solutions serving to advance even the most cutting-edge therapies." In addition to gaining FDA approval, CASGEVY recently received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's (EMA's) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for conditional approval of the treatment of severe SCD and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia (TDT). About Solvias Solvias is a global provider of chemistry, manufacturing, and control (CMC) analytics to the pharmaceutical, biotech, material science, and cosmetic industries. Its team of scientists and regulatory experts have years of experience in small molecules, biologics, and cell and gene therapies. The company offers comprehensive solutions from raw materials to drug products to final release testing, as well as API development and manufacturing for small molecules. Headquartered near Basel, Switzerland, Solvias operates five facilities to the highest standards and in accordance with ISO, GMP, GLP and FDA regulations.

Read More

Medical

Twist Bioscience Expands Express Genes Rapid Synthesis Service

Twist Bioscience Corporation | January 30, 2024

Twist Bioscience Corporation a company enabling customers to succeed through its offering of high-quality synthetic DNA using its silicon platform, today announced the expansion of Twist Express Genes, a new leading gene synthesis service with an order to shipping turnaround starting at five business days1, to include larger DNA preparations up to 1 milligram. The Express Genes offering, initially launched in November 2023, now extends to larger midiprep (10μg to 100 μg) and maxiprep (100μg to 1mg) DNA preparations. As with Twist standard speed Clonal Genes, all Twist Express Genes are NGS-verified as clonally perfect. “Since the initial launch of our Express Genes service in November, we have received positive and enthusiastic feedback from existing customers on our consistent and rapid turnaround time. By expanding Express Genes to include midiprep and maxiprep, we can now offer rapid gene synthesis at all gene prep scales, enabling large scale experimentation for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic and industrial chemical researchers,” said Emily M. Leproust, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Twist Bioscience. “With the expanded offering of Twist Express Genes, more researchers can gain access to Twist genes fast and at scale, including those using alternative providers and those cloning their own genes. The ability to order and receive synthetic DNA fast and at scale means more time for cutting-edge research, more make-test-learn cycles, and an accelerated journey to game-changing discoveries.” Twist leverages its ability to miniaturize the chemical reaction to create DNA using its silicon-based DNA synthesis platform along with expertise, software, optimized processes and the expanded layout of its Wilsonville facility to deliver Clonal Genes and Gene Fragments at scale and with rapid turnaround times. Twist’s Express Genes are offered with dynamic pricing, which reflects market demand and manufacturing capacity in a responsive premium price. Customers are able to quickly and easily place orders for Express Genes through Twist’s ecommerce platform. Twist Express Genes Twist Express Genes are 0.3kb to 5.0kb in length. Due to scale enabled by Twist’s platform, orders of any size both small and large can be filled, and as with standard speed Twist Clonal Genes, Twist Express Genes are NGS sequence-verified as one hundred percent accurate. Twist Express Genes can be cloned into catalog vectors or custom vectors so that customers can move right to experimentation. They can also be shipped in customers’ preferred delivery formats, including tubes and plates. For more information and product specifications click here. Current turnaround times for some Twist Bioscience products Express Genes1 (50ng-10µg): starting at 5 business days, now for up to 10µg Standard Clonal Genes (50ng-10µg): starting at 10 business days Express Genes1 (10µg-1mg): starting at 8 business days Standard Clonal Genes (10µg-1mg): starting at 13 business days 1 Express Clonal Genes ship in 5-7 business days. DNA prep sizes including 10 μg - 100 μg, and 100 μg - 1 mg may incur an additional 3-5 days for synthesis. Orders placed outside of the US will incur additional delivery turnaround time. Express Genes orders that require new custom vector onboarding will incur an additional 1-2 weeks for processing. About Twist Bioscience Corporation Twist Bioscience is a leading and rapidly growing synthetic biology and genomics company that has developed a disruptive DNA synthesis platform to industrialize the engineering of biology. The core of the platform is a proprietary technology that pioneers a new method of manufacturing synthetic DNA by “writing” DNA on a silicon chip. Twist is leveraging its unique technology to manufacture a broad range of synthetic DNA-based products, including synthetic genes, tools for next-generation sequencing (NGS) preparation, and antibody libraries for drug discovery and development. Twist is also pursuing longer-term opportunities in digital data storage in DNA and biologics drug discovery. Twist makes products for use across many industries including healthcare, industrial chemicals, agriculture and academic research.

Read More