GPEx® Boost - A Novel Approach for High-Expressing CHO Cell Line Development
Summary: Pharma companies are always examining ways to increase efficiencies and reduce cost of drug development. While cost of goods sold (COGS) can be high for small molecule drugs, biologic development can be even more costly due to the complex nature of the molecules. One way to reduce COGS during biologic development and manufacture is to increase the productivity of the cell line that is expressing the protein, typically a monoclonal antibody. Companies have multiple levers they can pull to attempt to increase productivity, but the cell line development process plays an important role in defining the upper limits of production.
GPEx® cell line development technology is a proven technology that generates highly stable, high titer production cell lines. Recently, GPEx technology and a glutamine synthase knock-out CHO cell line were combined in a unique way to create GPEx Boost. The new technology results in higher specific productivities, higher titers and improved cell growth characteristics compared to GPEx for most protein products. One case study examined a Fc fusion protein that was somewhat difficult-to-express. Using traditional GPEx technology, expression of the stable pool was ~0.6 g/L, and the best expressing clones were ~1.8 g/L. The GPEx Boost stable pool expression for the same molecule was ~4.0 g/L with clonal expression reaching ~5.0 g/L in similar culture conditions. The webinar describes GPEx Boost technology in more detail and discusses additional case study comparisons.