Selexis to develop CHO cell line for ASLAN's first biologic

ASLAN Pharmaceuticals has contracted Selexis to develop a CHO-K1 cell line to express its monoclonal antibody candidate targeting asthma.

Selexis will use its proprietary SUREtechnology to help yield a cell line for the expression of ASLAN004, the Singapore-based biopharma firm’s fully human blocking mAb currently in preclinical studies.

According to Selexis’ CEO Igor Fisch, the platform significantly improve efficacies throughout the biologic drug production process and has been used to develop cell lines for more than 70 programs in clinical development and one mAb in commercial product commercially available.

“The SUREtechnology Platform is comprised of a suite of innovative technologies that significantly improve efficacies throughout the biologic drug production process,” he told Biopharma-Reporter.com.

He added the platform’s foundation is the Selexis SGEs (Sure Genetic Elements) which “allow for vastly improved levels of stable recombinant gene transcription over many generations of cell division,” thus, producing elevated expression levels and more product.

“This also eliminates the need for gene amplification, thereby drastically reducing development timelines.”

Under the terms of the deal – of which financial details were not disclosed - Selexis will deliver a final clonal CHO-K1 cell line expressing ASLAN004, ASLAN ‘s first biologic candidate which the firm says has the potential to improve lung function and reduce exacerbations in a number of indications including moderate and severe asthma.

“Our partnership with Selexis allows us to leverage the company’s expertise and excellence in cell line generation as we seek to bolster the development of our proprietary biologics pipeline,” said ASLAN’s COO Mark McHale.