Sartorius and Teknova Team Up for Gene Therapy Process Development

Alpha Teknova, a US-based producer of critical reagents, and Sartorius BIA Separations, a part of Sartorius, announced a collaboration on March 15, 2023 under which the two companies will aid gene therapy companies to streamline the downstream purification process, specifically for the recovery of adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids.

Under the collaboration, Sartorius BIA Separations will combine its proprietary AAV platform, which is designed to optimize the separation of viral particles, with Teknova’s custom, high-quality buffer solutions, which have been developed to maximize capsid enrichment. The companies have conducted a robust design of experiment and have successfully created a screening kit with optimized buffer formulations, according to a company press release. The optimized buffer formulations drive consistency and increased purity when they are paired with Sartorius BIA Separations’ AAV platform (BIA CIMmultus QA monolith).

Through the collaboration, gene therapy companies focusing on AAV will get access to all required consumables as well as a protocol that will streamline and accelerate the downstream processing workflow. According to the company press release, this advantage will enable these gene therapy companies to discover novel breakthroughs faster. Teknova and Sartorius BIA Separations intend to continue developing data that demonstrate the improvements in AAV purification that result from their combined methods.

“Through our collaboration, we’re finding new tools to help our customers streamline the development of AAV therapies by optimizing their purification process and increasing the yield and purity of their AAV product,” said Stephen Gunstream, Teknova’s president and CEO, in the release.

“Teknova is the perfect partner for us as we explore robust, end-to-end solutions for our gene therapy customers seeking to achieve better results in the separation and analysis of viral particles,” said Aleš Štrancar, managing director at Sartorius BIA Separations, in the release. “Based on their ability to quickly manufacture high-quality, custom buffers that are consistent from batch to batch, we’ve been able to reliably reproduce results and confidently target the discreet differences in empty and full AAV particles.”

Source: Alpha Teknova