CPI Announces Results of Multi-Million-Dollar BioStreamline Project

CPI, a technology innovation center located in the United Kingdom, announced the results of its £11.2-million (US$13.69 million) BioStreamline project to optimize the development of novel biotherapeutics.

According to a Sept. 16, 2019 press release, the project focused on accelerating the discovery and development of monoclonal antibodies and aimed to tackle the limitations in the biologics supply chain to improve biologics production so superior drugs can be identified earlier, which will lead to more efficient development and manufacture of biologics.

On June 26, 2019, a dissemination event showcased results from the project, including the development of Sphere Fluidics’ Cyto-Mine Single Cell Analysis System and its associated workflows; the microfluidic picodroplet technology of Cyto-Mine, which enables the screening of B cells during antibody discovery and analysis of antibody-producing clones for selection of high-producing cell lines during cell line development; and the Cyto-Mine which has now been supplied to international biopharma companies and contract manufacturing organizations. 

“The development of the Cyto-Mine platform provides the crucial acceleration needed in monoclonal antibody development and production,” said Dr. Rob Marchmont, vice-president of sales and marketing, Sphere Fluidics, in the press release. “Deploying Cyto-Mine in the biologics area significantly improves efficiencies and reduces timelines in the development workflow and therefore will boost the entry of biologics into the supply chain. Overall, this has the potential to have a huge impact on the way biotherapeutics are produced in the UK.”

Several partner organizations collaborated on the project, including Lonza Biologics, UCB Celltech, Sphere Fluidics, Horizon Discovery Group, and Alcyomics, with funding provided by the UK Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative. The project created seven new jobs at CPI and seconded three employees to UCB and Lonza to gain experience and expertise in molecular biology, upstream processing, and analytical assessment.

“It is exciting to see the outcomes of this project and the impact it will have on both the biotherapeutics industry and society as a whole,” added John Liddell, chief technologist, CPI, in the press release “The BioStreamline project has also been extremely successful from a CPI perspective, enabling the enhancement of our experience and expertise around upstream and downstream workflows, analytics, mass spectrometry, data analysis, and data modeling.”

Source: CPI