Touchlight & LenioBio Collaborate to Accelerate Development of Protein Therapeutics for Pandemic Response

LenioBio and Touchlight recently announced a supply agreement aimed at leveraging the revolutionary capabilities of Touchlight’s rapid enzymatic doggybone DNA (dbDNA) to achieve unprecedented speed in vaccine  development and manufacture in the context of LenioBio’s CEPI grant.

LenioBio’s recently announced CEPI-funded project aims to showcase the capacity of their proprietary plant-based, cell-free ALiCE (Almost Living Cell-Free Expression) technology to significantly accelerate vaccine development. This initiative aligns with CEPI’s 100 Days Mission, to develop vaccines against novel pathogens within 100 days of a threat emerging. ALiCE already has a proven track record producing vaccine-relevant proteins within just 48 hours, offering a substantial speed advantage over existing methods. However, ensuring a fast and reliable DNA supply – a crucial component for protein production – poses a critical challenge, especially in epidemic or pandemic situations. In this context, Touchlight’s dbDNA offers a game-changing solution, promising a rapid, scalable, superior, and resilient cell-free alternative to traditional bacterial manufacturing methods.

dbDNA is a minimal, linear, double stranded, covalently closed DNA vector in the shape of a “doggybone” produced using enzymatic manufacturing methods. Eliminating the need for traditional bacterial fermentation methods, dbDNA can be produced at GMP quality at unprecedented speed, scale and purity. By coupling of Touchlight’s enzymatic dbDNA with LenioBio’s cell-free protein production process, a seamless end-to-end manufacturing process for pandemic preparedness will be established.

“We are delighted to be working with LenioBio to further demonstrate the breadth of dbDNA applications. We are excited to supply our enzymatic DNA to be used in LenioBio’s cell free protein platform – the combination of two cell-free technologies is a perfect synergy and shows the power of engineering biology,” said Tommy Duncan, Chief Operating Officer of Touchlight.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Touchlight and explore the synergy between our innovative technologies to achieve unprecedented speed in scaled protein production,” addedLenioBio CEO, Andre Goerke of the collaboration. “Having surveyed the DNA manufacturing landscape, it is clear to us that cell-free DNA amplification will greatly contribute, to produce vaccines within 100-Days and dbDNA is the field-leading innovation to support this ultra-rapid, advanced manufacture of essential vaccines and medicines.”

Touchlight is a privately-owned innovation-driven CDMO based in London, UK, focused on the provision of DNA services and manufacture of enzymatically produced doggybone DNA (dbDNA) to enable the development of genetic medicines. Touchlight provides rapid, enzymatic DNA development and manufacturing for all advanced therapy production, including mRNA, viral and non-viral gene therapy and DNA API. dbDNA is a minimal, linear, covalently closed structure, which eliminates bacterial sequences. Touchlight’s revolutionary enzymatic production platform enables unprecedented speed, scale, and the ability to target genes with a size and complexity that is impossible with current technologies. Clients can be supported from preclinical through clinical development, to licensing and tech transfer for use in-house.

LenioBio is a life-science biotechnology firm dedicated advancing transformative technology for the discovery, development, and large-scale production of proteins, liberating the process from conventional limitations of cells. Pioneered by LenioBio, ALiCE is an innovative eukaryotic protein expression platform that empowers scientists globally to accelerate the discovery and development of life-saving medicines and vaccines.