Aridis’ cell line ‘halves’ mAb manufacturing time

California, US-based drug developer, Aridis Pharmaceuticals, has developed a platform technology that enables discovery of highly potent antibodies against pathogens, as well as maximization of their production yield on a commercial scale, suggests the company.

The technology was presented​ recently during the antibody and cell engineering conference 19th Annual PepTalk: The Protein Science Week, in San Diego.

More specifically, the platform, known as Apex Technology Suite, is comprised of a silicon wafer-based array of nanoliter-sized tissue microculture wells that enable ‘rapid’ screening of antibody secreting cells.

Aridis suggests that Apex can potentially provide potent antibodies against virus targets “within one day of a pandemic outbreak.”​

The platform also supports gene editing technology, by featuring CRISPR-enabled activation of endogenous genetic control elements, which enables a ‘dramatic’ increase in yield of biotherapeutic drugs from manufacturing production cell lines, according to Aridis.

Finally, the Apex suite has a production cell line designed for the manufacture of multiple monoclonal antibody therapeutics “at approximately half the manufacturing cycle time,” ​when compared with currently available manufacturing technologies.

Using its technology platform, Aridis has generated five clinical stage antibodies targeting bacteria that cause: hospital-acquired pneumonia, ventilator-associated pneumonia, cystic fibrosis, bloodstream infections, and respiratory syncytial virus.