As drug developers face increasing pressure to lower prices and accelerate time to market, global biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization AGC Biologics is expanding its Cell Line Development Center of Excellence by partnering with ATUM to integrate the Leap-In Transposase^® expression platform within its offerings. This partnership provides drug developers with technology designed to increase yields and significantly shorten the path to clinical trials, directly addressing the market’s need for speed and efficiency.

With ATUM’s modern transposase-based platform now available through AGC Biologics, the CDMO offers a range of cell line development options to meet diverse customer needs, from complex molecules requiring rapid development to more straightforward projects where timelines are less critical. This partnership brings proven cell engineering expertise to develop the next generation of antibodies strong enough to kill cancerous tumors, fight viral infections, and provide precision immunosuppression for autoimmune conditions.

“We are acutely aware of the dual pressures our customers face: the need to innovate with increasingly complex molecules, and the simultaneous demand to get to the clinic faster and more cost-effectively than ever before,” said Kasper Møller, Chief Technical Officer, AGC Biologics. “Our partnership with ATUM is a direct response to that need. We are not just adding a new technology; we are providing our customers with more options and flexibility. Our plan is to fully integrate the miCHO^® and Leap-In technologies and continue to optimize them, ensuring we can help our partners navigate their challenges and succeed.”

ATUM’s Leap-In technology is a transposase-based platform that stably integrates DNA into a host cell’s genome, enabling the rapid development of highly productive and genetically stable cell lines. Implementing this technology in process development and manufacturing can reduce timelines by three months on average. The high-quality stable pools generated by the technology are highly predictive of final clonal line titers, allowing critical process development and analytical work to begin earlier, reducing risk and further shortening the project timeline.

“We developed the miCHO^® cell line and Leap-In Transposase^® to improve expression robustness, maximize efficiency and increase speed to clinic,” said Claes Gustafsson, Co-Founder, ATUM. “The platform was designed with complex biologics manufacturing in mind. The combination of our enabling technology with AGC Biologics’ deep manufacturing expertise will create an exceptional offering for the industry.”

This new offering builds on AGC Biologics’ in-house CHEF1^® Expression Technology, which has supported the development of five commercially approved products. The addition of the ATUM platform creates a comprehensive suite of cell line development services, allowing AGC Biologics to offer customized solutions that align with a customer’s specific molecule, budget, and timeline. These services are available across AGC Biologics’ global network, with sites in the United States, Europe, and Asia.