Project description
Streamlining innovation with automated production of highly selective immunotherapies
The immune system is a complex team that targets and destroys pathogens and helps your body eliminate damaged or abnormal cells such as cancer cells. Antibodies attach themselves to antigens, markers on the surface of targeted cells, letting other players know to come to the rescue. Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are laboratory-produced antibodies with very high specificity made by fusing antibody-producing cells with an immortal cell line. Although the types of MAbs available are rapidly increasing, the separation process to ensure purity is still done manually. iSTantibody is revolutionising this process with an automated platform that promises to drastically reduce production time as well as free up highly skilled scientists to research and develop even more therapies.
Objective
Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are innovative therapeutic tools that are currently drawing the attention of biopharma companies for their effectiveness against a broad panel of diseases. To guarantee safety for patients, tight control over the purity of mAbs preparations is crucial. The presence of contaminants in mAbs preparations can be assessed using mass spectrometry (MS), a technique characterised by remarkable sensitivity, but which requires a time-consuming, complicated and poorly reproducible sample preparation. Notably, at today’s date, this process cannot be automated or multiplexed: it has to be performed by highly skilled scientific staff, and - importantly - it cannot be easily “plugged in” the streamlined production approaches of pharma companies. PreOmics is a young German company seeking to revolutionise the MS proteomics market with its proprietary technology portfolio. Through the iSTantibody project, PreOmics translates its patented iST technology in the context of mAbs MS analysis and tackles the current pitfalls of mAbs sample preparation. Its final goal consists of a kit to simplify and shorten MS sample preparation by > 95% compared to standard protocols, eliminating the need for skilled scientists and allowing MS sample purification on automated liquid handling platforms. The advantages for potential customers are manifold – notably, significantly reduced costs, and the consequent possibility to free resources for mAbs development. The target sector of iSTantibody is the ever-growing market for MS sample preparation consumables, which is forecasted to reach a volume of € 1.3 billion worldwide in 2022, at a CAGR of 12%. The benefit of the iSTantibody project will produce remarkable benefits for PreOmics, both in terms of increased revenues (+ € 15.3 million in 2026), employability (creation of 13 jobs) and innovation potential, opening new market perspectives and allowing PreOmics to seize more opportunities in the years ahead.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
82152 PLANEGG MARTINSRIED
Germany
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.