Poster - GPEx® Lightning: Digital Control of Expression for Rapid, High-Titer Production of Complex Products in CHO Cells
Summary: Biotherapeutics are becoming increasingly complex, often requiring co-expression of multiple genes, processing enzymes, and/or cofactors, which can pose significant manufacturing challenges. Most cell line development technologies modulate expression using analog controls, primarily utilize one or two plasmids, which require extensive empirical testing, and integrate with high copy numbers (random integration) or low copy numbers (targeted integration) into the CHO genome. We have developed the GPEx® Lightning system that allows for digital control of expression, where we utilize targeted integration into ~200 Dock sites using one generic optimized expression construct for all genes. This allows the expression of each gene to be controlled by simply altering its copy number relative to the other genes. For example, if a product requires the co-expression of a processing enzyme, gene proportions can easily be titrated at transfection yielding cell pools with integrated gene copies reflecting this balance. This platform is ideal for efficiently screening a wide range of expression levels for each gene in high-titer pools, even with limited prior knowledge of the optimal stoichiometric relationship. It enables faster development timelines, robust manufacturing processes, improved titers, and higher final yields.