Asimov introduces its AI-driven 4th generation CHO Edge System with increased titer guarantee

  • Enables unique vector and process optimizations for different molecules to increase the likelihood of high titer clonal cell lines.
  • Asimov now guarantees titers of 5 g/L for IgG monoclonal antibodies, as part of its Cell Line Development (CLD) Service

Boston, Massachusetts, 30 July 2024: Asimov, the synthetic biology company advancing the design and manufacture of therapeutics, today announced the launch of its fourth generation CHO Edge System. With an increased typical titer range of 5-11 g/L across modalities before any upstream process optimization, the new system has been developed to optimize expression across a breadth of biologic architectures and increase the likelihood of high titer cell lines.

The system’s improved robustness has allowed Asimov to increase its minimum CLD titer guarantee for IgG monoclonal antibodies to 5 g/L. If the lead clone does not hit this benchmark, it is still transferred to the partner, but the service fee and all commercial use license fees are waived. 

The 4th generation CHO Edge System updates expression vector architectures, genetic parts selection, and process methodologies. In addition, the new system incorporates a suite of AI models to predict signal peptide cleavage, RNA splicing, and upstream process optimization. Customers can access these advanced capabilities by licensing the CHO Edge System or as part of Asimov’s Cell Line Development Service.

Alec Nielsen, co-founder and CEO of Asimov said, “Our 4th generation CHO Edge System incorporates learnings from a wide range of molecules, and an array of proprietary data-driven AI models. We have upgraded the vector architectures, genetic parts selection, and predictive modeling across multiple biological processes. While we always target titers in excess of 10 g/L in our CLD process, we can now guarantee a minimum of 5 g/L for IgG molecules. By offering a titer guarantee, we aim to set a new standard for cell line development in the industry and redefine the expectations of therapeutic developers.

The CHO Edge System incorporates a GMP-banked CHO-K1 GS knock-out host (or a GS-Fut8 double knockout), a hyperactive transposase, a library of >1000 characterized genetic parts and advanced computational models. Asimov reliably generates stable cell lines with high titer and product quality by using the CHO Edge System to optimize the expression vector across modalities. 

For more information about the CHO Edge System, please visit https://www.asimov.com/cho.

For high-resolution images please contact Asimov

Media Contact:

Chris Thorne

Asimov

Email: chris.thorne@asimov.com

Francesca Wallace

Zyme Communications:

Tel: +44 (0) 7506424870

Email: francesca.wallace@zymecommunications.com

About Asimov: 

Asimov’s mission is to advance humanity’s ability to design living systems, enabling biotechnologies with outsized societal benefit. The company is developing a synthetic biology platform – from cells to software – to design and manufacture next-generation therapeutics, including biologics, cell/gene therapies, and RNA through a combination of products, services, and collaborations. 

Founded by bioengineers from MIT and Boston University and headquartered in Boston, the company has raised over $200 million from top institutional investors including Andreessen Horowitz, CPP Investments, Horizons Ventures, and Fidelity Management & Research Company. For more information, visit www.asimov.com.

Highlights

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  • Single Sign-On: A tool like Kerberos allows you to use the same account across various components.
  • Home-grown user accounts: You implement an authentication system and users have a separate username/password for your computing infrastructure.

Asimov, the synthetic biology company building a full-stack platform to program living cells, announced today it has been awarded a contract as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Automating Scientific Knowledge Extraction (ASKE) opportunity.

Through ASKE, Asimov will work to develop a physics-based artificial intelligence (AI) design engine for biology. The goal of the initiative is to improve the reliability of programming complex cellular behaviors.

“To achieve truly predictive engineering of biology, we require dramatic advances in computer-aided design. Machine learning will be critical to bridge genome-scale experimental data with computational models that accurately capture the underlying biophysics. As genetically engineered systems grow in complexity, they become difficult for humans to design and understand. For simple genetic systems with only a couple of genes, synthetic biologists typically use high-throughput screening and basic optimization algorithms. But to engineer more complex applications in health, materials, and manufacturing, we need radically new algorithms to intelligently design the DNA and simulate cell behavior.”

Alec Nielsen, Phd, Asimov CEO
Over the past 50 years, DARPA has been a world leader in spurring innovation across the field of AI, including statistical-learning and rule-based approaches. We are proud to work with DARPA to advance the state-of-the-art in AI-assisted genetic engineering.

Asimov’s founders previously built a hybrid genetic engineering and computer-aided design platform called Cello to program logic circuit behaviors in cells. The ASKE opportunity will seek to support an ambitious expansion in the types of biological behaviors that can be engineered.

Asimov’s approach will leverage “multi-omics” cellular measurements, structured biological metadata, and novel AI architectures that combine deep learning, reinforcement learning, and mechanistic modeling. Over the past year, the company has ramped up hiring in experimental synthetic biology, machine learning, and data science to accelerate development of their genetic design platform.

Highlights

Headering 3

DARPA recently announced a multi-year investment of $2B into innovative artificial intelligence research called the AI Next campaign. A part of this wide-ranging AI strategy is DARPA’s Artificial Intelligence Exploration program, which was developed to help expeditiously move pioneering AI research from idea to exploration in fewer than 90 days. DARPA’s ASKE opportunity is part of this program and is focused on developing AI technologies that can reason over rich models of complex systems.

“Over the past 50 years, DARPA has been a world leader in spurring innovation across the field of AI, including statistical-learning and rule-based approaches. We are proud to work with DARPA to advance the state-of-the-art in AI-assisted genetic engineering.”

Alec Nielsen, PhD, Asimov CEO
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