Minaris and Asimov have formed a partnership to incorporate Minaris’ OXGENE technology into Asimov’s AAV Edge producer cell lines for manufacturing adeno-associated virus vectors used in gene therapies.
The companies said the work is intended to increase manufacturing titers, or the amount of virus produced, and improve product quality.
AAV vectors are used to deliver genetic material in some gene therapies. Producing them at the quantities needed for development and treatment can be difficult, making manufacturing output and consistency important considerations for developers.
Many AAV programs use transient production, in which cells are supplied with multiple good manufacturing practice-grade plasmids for each batch. The companies said that approach can raise costs, limit scalability and contribute to variability between batches.
Asimov’s AAV Edge system instead uses stable, clonal producer cell lines designed to manufacture AAV vectors. Under the partnership, Asimov will be able to add OXGENE technology to the tools it uses to engineer those cell lines.
OXGENE is Minaris’ advanced viral-vector technology group, which works on manufacturing approaches for AAV and lentiviral vectors. Minaris also provides cell- and gene-therapy contract development and manufacturing services and biosafety testing. Asimov develops synthetic-biology tools for therapeutic manufacturing.
Eytan Abraham, Minaris’ chief commercial and technology officer, said the arrangement will make the company’s viral-vector technology available for Asimov’s producer-cell-line development. Asimov co-founder Raja Srinivas said the company plans to incorporate it into its AAV Edge system.