Cobra Biologics and The University of Manchester Receive £217K Innovate UK/BBSRC Funding to Streamline the Production of Biologics
Cobra Biologics, international CDMO of biologics and pharmaceuticals, and The University of Manchester have been awarded collaborative funding of £217,000 as one of only 23 projects which will share almost £20 million from the Innovate UK/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) supported Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst.
The joint project, PeriTune, is to develop a protein expression optimisation platform for the robust production of biologics. This platform will enable key bottlenecks and manufacturability challenges of recombinant proteins used in both biopharmaceutical medicines and industrial biotechnology to be addressed.
The platform will use the tuneable gene expression control technology RiboTite, developed at The University of Manchester, coupled with the expertise in bioprocessing scale up at Cobra Biologics. The RiboTite technology operates at the level of translation initiation and permits cellular-level tuneable control of gene expression. Here, uniquely, this capability will be used to match expression to the periplasmic secretion capabilities of E. coli production cells. At high levels of recombinant protein overexpression the secretion pathways can become overloaded, affecting product titres and cell viability. Clones developed through the optimisation platform at The University of Manchester will be validated, demonstrated at scale, and assessed for manufacturability within Cobra Biologics.
The PeriTune project will allow Cobra Biologics to investigate the use of the RiboTite technology in controlling levels of secreted protein production in E.coli, and also the manufacturing robustness of the system during fermentation scale up.
Dr Daniel Smith, CSO Cobra Biologics, said: “We are looking forward to collaborating closely with Dr Neil Dixon, his team at the University of Manchester, and their innovative RiboTite technology. This is a very exciting project for Cobra, as it has the potential to expand our current microbial production toolbox, providing alternative routes for controlling protein expression for a wide range of potential new protein-based therapeutics.”
Dr Neil Dixon, The University of Manchester, commented: “We are very pleased that this funding will enable us to collaborate with Cobra Biologics and support the on-going translation of our research into industry. We believe the technology platform could make a significant impact on issues involved in the production of biopharmaceutical medicines and other industrial biotechnology products, which in turn would reduce manufacturing costs and enable de-risking of early product development projects.”
Related News
-
News Pharmapack Awards 2024 Patient-Centric Design Award Winner – Dr Ferrer BioPharma
The 2024 Pharmapack Awards celebrated the best in innovation and design for the pharmaceutical packaging and drug delivery industry on January 24, 2024. -
News Women in Pharma: Minding the Gap at Pharmapack 2024
2024 marks the first year Pharmapack will host a Diversity track dedicated to bridging the gap within the pharmaceutical packaging and drug delivery sector. The track includes a panel discussion on 'Enabling Diversity in the Workplace,' focused... -
News Pharmapack Awards 2024 - Celebrating Packaging and Drug Delivery Innovation
The 2024 Pharmapack Innovation Awards ceremony celebrated the best in pharmaceutical packaging and drug delivery innovation at all levels. The awards were held on January 24, 2024 at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. -
News 2024 Pharma Industry Trends Outlook: Collaboration, Market Maturity, and Digital Futures
The annual CPHI Online 2024 Pharma Trends Outlook, in partnership with Arvato Systems, identifies 12 key industry trends shaping the life sciences industry in the coming year. -
News New Novo Nordisk AI hub for drug discovery to open in London, UK
Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk will be opening an AI-based research facility in the heart of London to advance drug discovery operations. -
News BioNTech to begin mRNA vaccine manufacturing in Rwanda by 2025
German biotechnology company BioNTech has stated their intentions to begin production at their mRNA vaccine factory in Rwanda by 2025, which will mark the first foreign mRNA vaccine manufacturing site on the continent of Africa. -
News Women in Pharma: Looking back on 2023 and moving forward to 2024
In this monthly series, we interview women from across the pharmaceutical industry and supply chain to discuss the importance of gender diversity in healthcare, the workplace, and beyond. -
News CPHI Barcelona 2023: Partnering for Success – Managing Outsourcing Relationships to Optimise Manufacturing Operations
During CPHI Barcelona 2023, insightful content sessions offered attendees the chance to explore trending topics with expert speakers and panellists. Here, we summarise what the pharma industry and supply chain are talking about the most.
Position your company at the heart of the global Pharma industry with a CPHI Online membership
-
Your products and solutions visible to thousands of visitors within the largest Pharma marketplace
-
Generate high-quality, engaged leads for your business, all year round
-
Promote your business as the industry’s thought-leader by hosting your reports, brochures and videos within your profile
-
Your company’s profile boosted at all participating CPHI events
-
An easy-to-use platform with a detailed dashboard showing your leads and performance