Asimov launches LV Edge Packaging System to optimise lentivirus production
January 29, 2024 – BioManufacturing – Asimov, lentivirus production, therapeutic manufacturing
- New off-the-shelf system reduces the cost and risk of lentiviral (LV) production for cell and gene therapy (CGT) developers.
- Single-plasmid transfection minimizes GMP plasmid costs and supply chain risk.
- System achieves high titers of >1E8 TU/mL across multiple therapeutic transgenes.
29 January 2024 — Massachusetts, US: Asimov, the synthetic biology company advancing the design and manufacture of therapeutics, today announced the launch of their LV Edge Packaging System, which improves the cost efficiency and reduces the supply chain risk of lentiviral (LV) production. The ready-to-transfer system minimises GMP plasmid cost, process complexity and supply chain risk by stably integrating viral genes into the host cell. This enables LV production from a single-plasmid transfection, in contrast to the standard four-plasmid process.
In LV manufacturing, GMP plasmids account for a substantial proportion of raw material costs. Procurement of these plasmids also introduces additional supply chain risk and process complexity, which can impact both timelines and product variability. By removing the need to transiently transfect three out of the four GMP plasmids, the LV Edge Packaging System reduces manufacturing cost and supply chain risk without compromising speed to market.
The LV Edge Packaging System achieves high harvest titers of over 1E8 TU/mL across multiple chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) transgenes and enables tuneable transgene expression in the transduced cell. The system consists of: (1) A clonal, suspension-adapted packaging cell line with stably-integrated LV genes under inducible control; (2) Model-guided DNA design to optimise transgene expression – powered by Kernel, Asimov’s computer-aided design (CAD) software; and (3) Robust, ready-to-transfer processes and protocols across multiple scales.
“We’re excited to announce the launch of LV Edge, a significant leap toward solving the challenges of LV manufacturing,” said Alec Nielsen, Co-founder and CEO of Asimov. “By marrying mammalian synthetic biology, cutting-edge predictive models and flexible computer-aided design software, the LV Edge Packaging System is the first of multiple planned offerings to enable CGT developers. Later this year, we will expand the LV Edge offering with a fully-stable LV producer cell line development service, unlocking even greater scalability and cost reduction. This system builds on the success of our CHO Edge system for advanced antibody production, deepening our commitment to democratise the state of the art in genetic design capabilities to our partners.”
About Asimov
Asimov’s mission is to advance humanity’s ability to design living systems, enabling biotechnologies with outsized societal benefit. The company is developing a synthetic biology platform – from cells to software – to design and manufacture next-generation therapeutics, including biologics, cell/gene therapies and RNA through a combination of products, services and collaborations. Founded by bioengineers from MIT and Boston University and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, US, the company has raised over $200m from top institutional investors including Andreessen Horowitz, CPP Investments, Horizons Ventures and Fidelity Management & Research Company. For more information, visit www.asimov.com.
