Protein science to advance through LenioBio and Dow AgroSciences license agreement

Proteins are the building blocks of science and the speed, quality and efficiency of protein production research is being advanced through an agreement between Dow AgroSciences LLC, and life sciences startup LenioBio. Today the companies announce an exclusive license to enable LenioBio to utilize Dow AgroSciences’ proprietary eukaryotic cell-free protein expression technology. LenioBio will market the innovation to biopharmaceutical developers under the brand name ALiCE™.

While cell-free protein expression done today enables protein chemists to quickly produce small amounts of proteins when screening DNA libraries, there is a need for higher protein expression yields. The higher production efficiencies gained by ALiCE™ will make it possible for biopharmaceutical researchers to detect a significantly higher number of candidates from each DNA library screened, eventually leading to a higher number of viable candidates for development. ALiCE™ also offers the option to produce larger quantities of proteins.

This innovative cell-free protein expression system was developed by Dow AgroSciences in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME under a long-standing strategic alliance. This technology has been used successfully in agricultural research.

“Today’s protein research demands speed and robust technology. Our cell-free approach enables high-quantity protein to be produced and validated in days instead of weeks. Dow AgroSciences, together with our partner Fraunhofer IME, are committed to making the technology accessible to the biopharmaceutical market, and this license to LenioBio is key to the development and commercialization of this technology,” said Steven Webb, Ph.D., external technology leader, Dow AgroSciences.

“ALiCE™ is superior in terms of protein yield to other cell-free expression systems currently on the market, which makes it ideal for the discovery of new protein drugs. We want to enable biopharmaceutical developers and other protein chemists to take full advantage of this system, which has established a solid record of accomplishment with Dow AgroSciences,” said Remberto Martis, Ph.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of LenioBio.

LenioBio will launch the ALiCE™ platform this year initially as an expression kit that yields much higher amounts of proteins on average than other cell-free protein expression kits. Going forward, the company also will launch a unique protein production toolbox for biopharmaceutical developers to fine-tune and produce their protein candidates for pre-clinical and clinical trials in-house.

About LenioBio:

LenioBio GmbH is a life sciences start-up company committed to the advancement of transformative technology platforms for the development and synthesis of ‘difficult-to-produce’ proteins in biomedical, industrial, agriculture and other relevant fields of application. LenioBio GmbH was established as a legal entity in September 2016 with offices in Dusseldorf and Bocholt, and R&D and production labs at the Fraunhofer IME in Aachen. For more information about LenioBio, please visit our website at www.leniobio.com.