Lonza XS Pichia 2.0 Expression and Manufacturing Platform

Lonza has announced the launch of its XS Pichia 2.0 Expression and Manufacturing Platform for the development of therapeutics.

Pichia pastoris was designed as a valuable alternative to E. coli and CHO cells for the production of novel protein formats such as multispecific antibody mimetics. But scaling up of traditional Pichia fermentation processes can be challenging due to use of methanol and complex feed regimes. In addition, the fermentation times of traditional Pichia processes require guaranteed sterility of the vessel and medium.

To address these challenges, Lonza has developed an expression and manufacturing system that provides high product titres (up to 6 g/L) for these novel compounds along with a fast, robust and scalable manufacturing process suitable for commercial production. The XS Pichia 2.0 system is said to deliver high cell viability for improved product quality; reduced fermentation times that approximate E. coli processes; and ease of implementation in large-scale plants.

A model-based process development approach enables a product-specific set-up based on the specifications of the full production process and the requirements of the production plant. In addition, the system is complemented by effective high-throughput screening, which enables identification of high-performing clones under fed-batch conditions.