Berkeley Lights Launches Plasma B Cell Antibody Discovery Workflow On The Beacon® Optofluidic Platform
New workflow enables customers to speed novel antibody discovery from months to just one day
EMERYVILLE, Calif., Dec. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkeley Lights, Inc. (BLI), a leader in digital cell biology, announced today the release of a plasma B cell antibody discovery workflow for use on the Beacon Optofluidic Platform. This new offering provides pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies the ability to speed discovery of rare and novel therapeutic antibodies from several months to less than 24 hours. The Beacon platform is uniquely designed to interrogate primary plasma B cells, an untapped source of therapeutic antibodies.
"We have been observing first-hand the strength and versatility of the BLI technology and its potential to address many of the limitations scientists have encountered in discovering specific and functional therapeutic antibodies," said Wei Tang, President of Shanghai ChemPartner Co., Ltd. "We're excited at the prospect of working closely with BLI to further demonstrate the breadth of the technology for antibody discovery and to enable access to this exciting platform for our global client base."
With the Beacon platform, BLI's plasma B cell antibody discovery workflow cuts screening and assay time down to 24 hours, which is within the timeframe when plasma B cells are still viable. In addition, the workflow reduces immunogenicity and functionality concerns by using naturally produced antibodies which can be assessed within the platform. Using Berkeley Lights' technology for antibody discovery greatly increases the chances of finding the novel antibody by screening a higher percentage of the immune repertoire. The ability to link phenotype to genotype at the single cell level in days, not months, significantly speeds the antibody discovery process.
"The antibody discovery market is in need of innovative methods that increase the discovery rate for complex, high-value therapeutic antibodies, which can take months to generate and are labor-intensive to bring to market," said Andy Last, Chief Commercial Officer at Berkeley Lights. "The Beacon platform is uniquely designed to screen plasma B cells, perform functional assays, and easily recover cells for sequencing for further analysis in a very short time frame. The accelerated process enabled by Berkeley Lights' technology can help give companies a first-to-market advantage when developing new and life-changing biologics."
The Berkeley Lights' technology addresses challenges within current cell biology processing, including antibody discovery and cell line development, by using optofluidic light technology to individually isolate, culture, and export thousands of live cells. Continual visual and digital monitoring supplies scientists with rich analytical data that can better inform decisions leading to more consistent and potent production of therapeutics in a drastically reduced timeframe compared to existing methods.
About Berkeley Lights
Berkeley Lights, Inc. (BLI) is a digital cell biology company that develops and commercializes platforms for the acceleration of discovery, development, and delivery of cell-based products and therapies. At the intersection of biology, technology and information, our platforms automate the manipulation, analysis and selection of individual cells, creating ultimate scalability and deep cell insights. The Beacon platform* is ideally suited for cell line development, antibody discovery (including direct B cell workflows), gene editing, and antibody engineering workflows. Each workflow provides a 100-fold increase in insights, 10 times faster, at a fraction of the cost.
For more information, visit http://www.berkeleylights.com/.
* For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.
SOURCE Berkeley Lights, Inc.
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