Aptamer Group & Bio-Works Technologies Partner to Enable Improved Solutions for Gene Therapy Manufacturing

Aptamer Group Ltd and Bio-Works Technologies AB recently announced they have entered into an agreement to co-develop a new affinity resin for improved purification and scale up of gene therapy vectors.

Under the agreement, Aptamer Group will develop an Optimer ligand capable of binding and eluting of a viral vector. Bio-Works Technologies will then develop a derivatized resin by coupling the Optimer to its patented WorkBeads agarose beads.

Optimer ligands are nucleic acid-based affinity ligands developed in vitro. The ability to develop highly specific Optimer ligands with no reliance upon the immune system makes them well-suited to development as novel affinity ligands for viral vectors. The ability to tune the Optimer binding profile to allow specific target binding and release conditions can be used to optimize performance in bioprocessing, without compromising the stability or function of the viral vector product.

Arron Tolley, Chief Executive Officer of Aptamer Group, said “We are really excited to be partnering with Bio-Works Technologies AB to enable improved biomanufacturing processes in this exciting field of gene therapy. We will be working closely with Bio-Works on the development and assessment of our Optimer ligands on their WorkBeads with the aim to provide an effective solution for gene therapy bioprocessing that can support this industry to scale through more efficient, cost-effective processes.”

Jonathan Royce, Chief Executive Officer at Bio-Works, added “There is a clear need in the gene therapy market for affinity resins based on a technology other than camelid-antibodies. The current offerings for the affinity purification of viral vectors offer low binding capacity and are not cleanable using standard clean-in-place (CIP) protocols. As viral vector production scales up and matures, more modern solutions are required. We believe that Aptamer Group’s Optimer platform can provide significant improvements in downstream purification of viral vectors. If successful, we also believe that we can collaborate on other affinity targets, since the Optimer technology is a scalable platform which can be tailored to individual targets.”

Aptamer Group develops custom affinity tools through its proprietary Optimer platform to enable new approaches in research, diagnostics and therapeutics. The company strives to deliver transformational solutions, that meet the needs of researchers and developers across the Life Sciences through the use of its proprietary Optimer platform.

Optimer ligands are nucleic acid affinity ligands that can function as an antibody alternative. Despite many well-recognized problems with antibodies, the global antibody market is currently worth over $145 billion. Optimer ligands are engineered to address many of the issues found with alternative affinity molecules, such as antibodies, and offer new, innovative solutions to bioprocessing, diagnostic and pharmaceutical scientists.

Aptamer Group has successfully delivered projects for global pharma companies, diagnostic development companies, and research institutes covering a range of targets and applications with the objective of establishing royalty-bearing licenses. Through the unique Optimer technology and processes, scientists and collaborators are enabled to make faster, more informed decisions that support discovery and development across the Life Sciences.

Bio-Works designs, develops, manufactures and supplies innovative leading-edge agarose products for chromatographic separation of proteins, peptides and other biomolecules. Bio-Works’ agarose based high performance products are used for purification in the life science research phases as well as the commercial production of biopharmaceuticals and diagnostic products in large scale. The products are sold globally with our own organization and via distributors. The Bio-Works’ headquarters with R&D and manufacturing is located in Uppsala Business Park in Uppsala, Sweden and the company processes and Quality Management System follow the standards of ISO 9001:2015. The company’s share is listed on Nasdaq First North. FNCA Sweden AB, +46 (0) 8-528 00 399, info@fnca.se, is appointed Certified Adviser.