Many of today's expression platforms for recombinant protein manufacturing have been optimised for the expression of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), often with the platform fundamentals originating from the 1990's. However, as new modalities increase in prevalence, there is a need to design more flexible production paradigms. A case in point is the growing prevalence of multi-chain asymmetric antibodies and bispecifics (bsAbs) in development.
In this short article, we'll take a brief journey through some of the efforts that Lonza has made to optimize the manufacturability of bsAbs and other formats, and take a glance towards future directions with an emphasis on the upstream aspects.