ExcellGene and Cytovance partner to advance CHO and HEK cells

Aiming to advance CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) and HEK (human embryonic kidney) cells for mammalian cell lines for recombinant protein production and biological research, Swiss biotech ExcellGene will provide its transposon services to Cytovance’s customers.

This collaboration expects to deliver a higher yield range of up to 10 g/L, to help customers advance their therapeutics from upstream development to clinical and commercial scale operations. Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Cytovance will be leveraging its dedicated mammalian facility in Oklahoma for customers who take advantage of this partnership.

“For Cytovance, this partnership is part of an intentional effort to build a robust portfolio of cell and strain lines so that biopharma customers can identify the best option for expressing their target protein,” a spokesperson for Cytovance told BioProcess Insider.

“At the same time, Cytovance provides ExcellGene’s customers the opportunity to develop and manufacture their biologics in a central location in the United States. Leveraging ExcellGene’s line development knowledge for a wide range of molecules in combination with Cytovance’s experience in development and manufacturing will provide the customers with the best option for protein productivity. The impact this has on biopharma development is that our customers now no longer must choose between speed (time to market) and yield. They can have both!”

According to the spokesperson, over 70% of approved biotherapeutics, including most monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), are produced in CHO cells. CHO cells have a historic reputation for high stability throughout process development and manufacturing. HEK cells are increasingly gaining traction in commercial production as some proteins require human glycosylation to be functional, and human glycosylation can have less immunogenicity in CHO for certain proteins.

“By providing customers with bespoke, engineered options for each cell type, we can continue building upon CHO's proven success record while exploring the promise of HEK in commercial applications for our customers.”

According to ExcellGene, its CHO and HEK cell lines are used to optimize protein quality, quantity, development timelines, and scalability through custom engineering to the specific requirements of a protein.