BioCentury
ARTICLE | Tools & Techniques

Democratizing antibodies

The Gates Foundation turns to industry to innovate antibody manufacturing

September 1, 2016 7:00 AM UTC

With the goal of expanding access to antibody-based drugs worldwide, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is turning to industry to innovate its methods of manufacturing the proteins. In the last two months, the organization signed deals with Biogen Inc. and Just Biotherapeutics Inc., fostering programs to reduce costs and increase yields that benefit both the for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises.

On Aug. 8, the Gates Foundation and Biogen announced a project to improve antibody production and manufacturing techniques, using eight undisclosed expression systems that include yeast, fungi and algae. The idea is to search for alternatives to Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, which have served as the workhorse of antibody manufacturing for 25 years. Biogen will conduct the research over an 18-month period, and the results will be made publicly available...