Feliza Mirasol is the science editor for 

Feliza Mirasol

TAU Systems, a US-based producer of compact laser-driven plasma accelerators and light sources, announced on Nov. 21, 2023 that it has signed a lease for a state-of-the-art building in Carlsbad, Calif., in which it will establish TAU Labs. The facility will be the first of the company’s light source applications and R&D centers, which will give users easier access to the latest particle and imaging systems. The first phase of construction is expected to be complete in 2024, according to a company press release.

The company is developing compact particle accelerators and specialized X-ray sources that combine the capabilities of large accelerators with a small footprint. This design is meant to provide easy and affordable beam-time access for any company or research institute, and, by doing so, the facility democratizes accelerator access, allowing for the progress of semiconductors, space-bound electronics, battery technology, biotechnology, and nuclear energy, among other industries, according to the press release.

TAU Systems' particle and light sources comprise the electromagnetic spectrum—from ultraviolet (UV) to gamma wavelengths—and will be installed in a 22,300-ft

 building located at the Carlsbad Research Center. The lab space will house several laser-driven particle and light sources as well as broad technical expertise. Industrial users will have wide access to extreme UV and X-ray light sources as well as million electron volt electrons and other particle beams.

"Laser-driven particle accelerators are incredibly powerful tools that enable unprecedented advances in a wide range of fields, from next-generation semiconductors and batteries, and custom-designed medicines to the advancement of fundamental physics. However, getting beam time on the very few facilities available globally is stifling progress,” said Bjorn Manuel Hegelich, CEO, TAU Systems, in the press release. “TAU's application centers will democratize access to these exciting machines and expedite crucial technological breakthroughs."

"Our high-repetition-rate laser driver also makes TAU Labs an ideal location to test the resistance to space radiation of satellite electronics. It will help make space systems more robust and prolong the life of satellites," said Jerome Paye, chief operating officer, TAU Systems, in the press release.

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TAU Systems plans to establish TAU Labs, a new next-generation, laser-driven plasma accelerator laboratory, in Carlsbad, Calif.

TAU Systems to Establish TAU Labs, a New Laser Plasma Accelerator Application Center

On Nov. 21, 2023, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, announced that it has entered into a multi-year strategic research collaboration with NVIDIA, a US-based computing company. The companies plan to combine Genentech’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, extensive biological and molecular datasets, and research expertise with NVIDIA’s accelerated computing capabilities and AI to speed up drug discovery and development.

The collaboration is meant to significantly enhance Genentech’s advanced AI research programs by turning the company’s generative AI models and algorithms into a next-generation AI platform, which would be designed to expedite the discovery and delivery of novel therapies. Under the agreement, the companies aim to accelerate and optimize Genentech’s proprietary machine learning algorithms and models on the NVIDIA DGX Cloud. The cloud provides a training-as-a-service platform that has been built on dedicated NVIDIA AI supercomputing and software, including NVIDIA BioNemo for generative AI applications in drug discovery.

Also under the agreement, NVIDIA will share its computing expertise with Genentech’s teams of computational scientists, under which Genentech’s models will be optimized and scaled. This process may also improve or enhance NVIDIA’s platforms.

The collaboration will also help accelerate Genentech’s “lab in a loop”, in which extensive experimental data will feed computational models to uncover patterns and make new, experimentally testable predictions. Scientists can then quickly assess these predictions in the lab, and the results are fed back into the models to improve the underlying computational model. This loop is expected to allow for the iterative development of better therapies, according to a company press release.

“By harnessing the power of AI models and algorithms with our unique data and experiments, we're unlocking scientific discoveries with incredible speed and generating insights at an unprecedented scale,” said Aviv Regev, executive vice-president and head of Genentech Research and Early Development (gRED), in the press release. “Bringing science and technology together has always been a foundation of biomedical breakthroughs at Genentech. We are thrilled to join forces with NVIDIA to further optimize our drug discovery and development to deliver treatments that transform people’s lives.”

“The greatest impact of generative AI is to revolutionize the life science and healthcare industry,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, in the release. “Our collaboration to create Genentech’s next-generation AI platform will dramatically accelerate the pace of drug discovery and development.”

Under this multi-year collaboration, Genentech and NVIDIA will use AI to optimize and accelerate each company’s platforms to discover and develop innovative therapeutics.

Genentech and NVIDIA Form AI Research Collaboration for Drug Discovery and Development

MilliporeSigma, the US and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, announced on Nov. 21, 2023 that it has opened the second phase of its new €29 million (US$43 million) Biologics Testing Center in Shanghai, China, which opened in 2022. The expansion includes an added 1500 m2 of lab space, which are the first biosafety laboratories for the company in the Chinese market. This expansion enables the company to serve local clients, according to a company press release.

The new lab space offers testing services for cell line characterization and lot release from pre-clinical development to commercialization. MilliporeSigma can now offer biosafety testing services for monoclonal antibodies, other recombinant proteins, and cell and gene therapies to the local market.

The first phase of the new testing center allowed the company to provide testing services for viral clearance studies, while the second phase adds capabilities for cell line characterization to help ensure the safety, purity, and identity of cell banks. The testing center also offers current good manufacturing practice-compliant lot release testing for unprocessed and purified bulk harvest for meeting the requirements for biologics that are entering preclinical and clinical studies and for licensed biologics.

“The opening of the facility deepens our partnership with our Chinese clients who are at the forefront of shaping modern medicine,” said Dirk Lange, head of Life Science Services, Life Science business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in the press release. “The Biologics Testing Center in Shanghai now provides critical local services backed by our more than 75 years of global experience in the testing market.”

MilliporeSigma has expanded its biosafety testing laboratories in Shanghai, China, with the completion of new lab space at its new €29 million (US$43 million) Biologics Testing Center.

MilliporeSigma Expands Biologics Testing Center in China

On Nov. 14, 2023, Lonza announced the launch of its new cell line, GS Effex, which is intended for the development of therapeutic antibodies with enhanced potency. Derived from the company’s GS Xceed cell line, GS Effex was developed to meet the development needs for more sophisticated therapeutic antibodies. The new cell line combines the characteristics of good cell growth with the ability to produce therapeutic antibodies with increased potency.

GS Effex is a stable, scalable, and productive cell line that produces Fc domains free of fucose, which, according to Lonza, increases the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) function and therapeutic potency of the final antibody. GS Effex is available under license or as a complete service offering.

"Lonza is committed to providing our customers with the right tools to develop their novel therapies. Leveraging more than 35 years of protein expression expertise, more than 75 molecules have been manufactured and brought to the clinic using our expression platforms,” said Ulrich Osswald, vice-president, Licensing, Lonza, in a company press release. “The new GS Effex cell line represents an enhanced solution especially relevant for the oncology field since improved ADCC represents a vital enhancement of the therapeutic success of an antibody product."

“At Lonza, we develop and invest in novel, disruptive technologies with potential to transform the development, analytics, and manufacturing of established and novel biotherapeutics,” said Atul Mohindra, head of Biologics R&D, Lonza, in the press release. “The GS Effex cell line provides a reliable protein expression platform with the needs of our customers in mind. This cell line enables the efficient production of monoclonal antibodies with increased ADCC, while also delivering the required product quality and efficacy profile.”

Lonza’s new GS Effex cell line can help overcome the challenges of developing therapeutic antibodies with increased potency.

Lonza Launches New Cell Line for Higher Potency Antibody Development

On Nov. 13, 2023, Legend Biotech, a biotechnology company, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Legend Biotech Ireland, entered into an exclusive, global license agreement with Novartis for certain Legend Biotech chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) cell therapies targeting Delta-like ligand protein 3 (DLL3). The deal includes Legend Biotech’s autologous CAR-T cell therapy candidate, LB2102 (NCT05680922).

Under the agreement, Legend Biotech will receive a $100 million upfront payment and will be eligible to receive up to $1.01 billion in clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments as well as tiered royalties. Novartis will be granted exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize these cell therapies.

Novartis may also apply its T-Charge CAR-T cell therapy platform to the manufacture of these candidates. The platform is a next-generation CAR-T cell therapy manufacturing platform designed to preserve T cell stemness. It also facilitates CAR-T cell expansion primarily 

. The platform is designed to reduce the need for extensive culture time outside the body and results in T cells with greater proliferative potential as well as fewer exhausted T cells. If applied to the manufacture of LB2102, this would be the first application of the T-Charge platform to a cell therapy candidate targeting solid tumors, according to a company press release.

Legend Biotech will conduct a Phase I clinical trial for LB2102 in the United States, and Novartis will conduct all other development for the licensed products. Clinical development for LB2102 starts with treatment of extensive stage small cell lung cancer and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma following FDA’s clearance of the therapeutic’s investigational new drug application in 2022. In 2023, FDA granted the candidate orphan drug designation.

“We believe LB2102 has an innovative CAR design and armor mechanism that increases its anti-tumor activity. The preclinical evidence shows that an autologous CAR-T could be a differentiated treatment option for patients with small cell lung cancer,” said Guowei Fang, chief scientific officer and head of Business Development, Legend Biotech, in the press release. “We are excited that a major pharmaceutical company with deep roots in oncology and cell therapy has chosen to further this product candidate in the clinic. We are delighted that a combination of our unique candidate design in LB2102 with the T-Charge platform may potentially offer transformative benefits to small cell lung cancer patients.”

Novartis and Legend Biotech seek to advance certain CAR-T cell therapy candidates targeting Delta-like ligand protein 3.

Novartis and Legend Biotech Sign Exclusive License Agreement for CAR-T Therapies

®, Matthew Lauber, senior director—Cell and Gene Therapy, Consumables & Lab Automation, Waters Corporation remarks on how current technologies have enabled oligonucleotide (oligo) development to push forward to the forefont.

“Synthetic oligos just so interesting because it is the world in between the biologically produced, recombinantly produced, drugs and those small-molecule drugs that have been produced through traditional synthetic pharma science,” he states.

Much of the work being conducted on oligo drug development has centered around modifications of the oligo molecule, he emphasizes. “Notice that, even in our mRNA [messenger RNA] vaccines, [which gave us] 

, one of the big things that unlocked mRNA vaccines was a modified nucleotide,” Lauber notes.

“These are the same things … it's a modification of these things that are our genome code—our transcriptome code— that is giving us our opportunity for a new form of science,” Lauber states.

AAPS PharmSci 360 ran Oct. 22–25 in Orlando, Fl.

Matthew Lauber, senior director—Cell and Gene Therapy, Consumables & Lab Automation, at Waters Corporation highlights how current technologies are enabling oligonucleotide development.