Sartorius entered a research partnership with The BASE Facility at The University of Queensland (UQ) to improve the manufacturing process of nucleic acid products led by the external collaboration group, Separation Technology Marketing team. The BASE facility is an internationally recognized leader in mRNA sciences at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) at UQ. Associate Professor Tim Mercer and Dr. Seth Cheetham are leading the BASE facility using the Sartorius platform to provide process development and pre-clinical production services of pDNA, mRNA, dsRNA and ssRNA for researchers, clinicians and external companies. Founded in 2021, The BASE facility is funded by Therapeutic Innovation Australia and The University of Queensland. The collaboration will leverage BASE's advanced manufacturing and analytics capabilities including novel next-generation sequencing approaches to co-develop protocols and methods for nucleic acid-based products production.

The BASE facility production platform is equipped with the Ambr 15 multi-parallel bioreactor system along with the Ambr Crossflow for multi-parallel crossflow filtration while the PATfix HPLC system is implemented for analytics and quality control. Teaming up with Sartorius will facilitate mutual collaboration to develop processes and protocols tailored for different nucleic acid-based products. Sartorius platform provides the foundations for implementing automation technologies and Design of Experiments (DoE) principals in bioprocessing.

Founded on The BASE facility extensive expertise in mRNA, the Ambr 15 system is utilized for optimizing in-vitro transcription reactions to synthesis mRNA in a cell-free step. The built-in MODDE DoE software leverage the Ambr 15 system’s unique capacity to run the 24-multiparallel 15ml mini-bioreactors for screening different process conditions. Like the Ambr 15, the Ambr Crossflow system provides a scale down model for crossflow filtration processes that are core part of pDNA and mRNA downstream processing. The Ambr Crossflow have high automation capabilities combined with DoE to be the ideal tool for developing robust process that can be scaled up at larger volumes. Both Ambr systems implement single-use technologies to match emerging bioprocessing platforms at larger scales while achieving significant cost reduction compared to conventional process development platforms where volumes are larger and multi-parallel bioprocessing is not an option.

The PATfix HPLC system provides accurate quantification of nucleic acid-based products using Sartorius Monolith CIMac analytical columns. The BASE facility scientists use such powerful HPLC system to ensure quality control analytics are integral to different productions steps and deliver high quality material to their partners.

The BASE Facility team strives to support scientists and clinicians by producing high-quality mRNA material through processes that ascribe to industry-leading standards. The combination of the Sartorius systems will greatly accelerate the accuracy and speed of tasks of bioprocess optimization to support the BASE facility delivering its mission.