Asimov and AGC Biologics Launch Simplified Viral Vector Production

Asimov’s LV Edge Packaging cell line routinely achieves high titers for therapeutic transgenes and is now available at AGC Biologics’ Cell and Gene Center of Excellence

Asimov, the synthetic biology company advancing the design and manufacture of therapeutics, and AGC Biologics, your friendly CDMO expert, have signed a licensing agreement for Asimov’s off-the-shelf LV Edge Packaging cell line. Under the terms of the agreement, AGC Biologics’ Cell and Gene Center of Excellence in Milan now offers a lentiviral packaging system that enables production from a single-plasmid transfection instead of the standard four-plasmid process.

As drug developers grow their cell and gene therapy pipelines, the need for more consistent, low-cost manufacturing approaches for viral vectors becomes more pressing. Asimov’s LV Edge Packaging System achieves harvest titers exceeding the ones achieved with traditional transient transfection across multiple therapeutic transgenes and reduces the variables inherent in a traditional 4-plasmid transfection. Combining an engineered HEK293 cell line that contains inducible viral genes, software for transfer plasmid design, and robust, ready-to-transfer processes, the LV Edge Packaging system minimizes GMP plasmid cost, process complexity, and supply chain risk.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with AGC Biologics, a leader in cell and gene therapy manufacturing, to expand access to our high performance lentiviral production system,” said Alec Nielsen, co-founder and CEO at Asimov. “By working with the experts at AGC Biologics, we’re confident that we can empower drug developers to unlock the next generation of cell and gene therapies.”

“As AGC Biologics’ Cell and Gene Center of Excellence, our Milan site has long been at the forefront of viral vector innovation, and this partnership enables us to continue that tradition of excellence,” said Luca Alberici, Executive Vice President, Global Cell & Gene Technologies, AGC Biologics. “After careful evaluation of the LV Edge Packaging system at our AGC Milan site using clinically relevant genes of interest, we look forward to providing this best-in-class technology for customers around the globe.”

With its 30-year track record and more than 10 product approvals by the EMA and FDA, the AGC Biologics Milan site is a global leader with deep expertise in complex cell and gene therapy projects. The team has guided numerous products to commercial stage, manufactured hundreds of batches for clinical supply, and consistently met the highest global regulatory guidelines, quality performance metrics, and the unique complexities of technology transfers and manufacturing scale-up.