Technologies
Vertically integrated continuous flow mRNA manufacturing solution.
Producing Conventional and Self Amplifying mRNA
Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a molecule of nucleic acids that helps the genes in a cell’s nucleus communicate with its protein manufacturing complex. All cells need to routinely make protein and mRNA helps to regulate protein level within the cells and infectious diseases are often also recognized through the immune system by detecting foreign mRNA molecules. Exploiting mRNA as a fast response vaccine candidate has been very helpful in the latest pandemic and might be a powerful solution to combat many diseases of the modern age.
Our Process
To support the growing demand for mRNA based vaccines and therapeutics, NTx has developed a first of it’s kind, proprietary continuous-flow, fully recombinant, in vitro, cell-free, transcription system utilizing hollow fiber bioreactors. This biosynthetic process is designed to provide a low cost and rapidly deployable, vertically integrated manufacturing system. This system allows for manufacturing scaling from R&D quantities to commercial needs in a small, economical footprint, with the supply of critical enzymatic components secured by NTx.
All enzymes used in the NTxscribe® platform, including the m7G-capping (cap0), the cap1-generating enzymes and poly(A) polymerase, are engineered with an affinity tag, enabling continuous capture and wash through of all processing steps. In our standard workflow, 5’-capping and 3’-poly(A) extension of the mRNA are accomplished in continuous flow (directly coupled mRNA synthesis).
This unique approach minimizes handling of the material in between production steps, prevents damaging the molecules and ensures integrity, incorporates a purification process that improves yields, and can be scaled up through the product commercialization, saving valuable time.
Our mRNA Technology
THE PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS OF NTXSCRIBE® INCLUDE:
- Unique bioreactor design
- Patented energy-regenerating system enabling continuous flow operation
- Complete set of enzymes to produce the mRNA sequence, add the 5’cap and poly(A) tail
- Specially designed glovebox that maintains the sterility of the workspace
Fully recombinant in vitro protein manufacturing for the production of biologics.
First and only fully recombinant cell-free expression system to produce proteins and minimize unwanted cellular metabolism.
Extract-based in vitro systems are challenged by:
- Limited stability of the organism’s enzymes and reduced ATP regeneration (loss of energy, short run times)
- Residual metabolic activity lowering efficiency (nucleotide and amino acid recycling)
- Presence of cellular nucleases and proteases creating protein artifacts
- Codon-usage dependency
NTx has developed a fully recombinant, thermostable, reliable and functional in vitro transcription/translation system for the production of biologics.
Our Process
Compared to cell-based expression, cell-free (CF) production of biologics provides greater flexibility, faster response times, less energy and minimizes facility footprints. CF production does not require dedicated facilities per strain/product and can be scaled throughout the commercialization process saving time and money.
NTxpress® is designed to offer continuous flow, high-quality, linear scaling, with compressed cycle time for product manufacturing. The NTxpress® platform requires limited upfront capital investment and can be adapted for a turnkey modular solution.
Our Recombinant In Vitro Technology
EXTRACT-BASED CELL-FREE EXPRESSION
- Cell extracts from E. coli, wheat germ, rabbit reticulocyte, insect cells
- Mostly circular DNA templates
- Non-improved T7-RNAP polymerase
- Energy regeneration based upon ATP present in lysate
- Limited run times
- Poor reproducibility
NTX CELL-FREE EXPRESSION
- Recombinant enzymes with superior stability
- Linear or circular DNA templates possible
- Modified, high-fidelity T7-RNAP
- Efficient ATP regenerating system to supply sustained energy
- Extended reaction times
- High reproducibility
Bioinformatics platform to discover and prioritize natural products for drug development.
Next Generation Technology for Drug Discovery
Natural products, such as biogenic drugs or drugs derived from nature, comprise the majority of FDA- and EMEA-approved lists. In the U.S., 71% of all approved drugs since 1981 are natural products1. Further, 84% of antitumor agents and 78% of antibiotics are natural products.
Our Process
DruID® is capable of accurately predicting the structures of the identified natural products, comparing the predicted structures with known ones and excluding non-novel structures from further analyses.
For novel entities, the analysis pipeline continues by predicting the 3D structure. A relatively small library of several thousand compounds is generated, which in turn can be used to screen drug targets in silico by identifying and ranking potential binders of a particular drug target.
Our Bioinformatics Platform
Millions of years of evolution have endowed natural products with favorable bioavailability, bioactivity and physicochemical properties compared to completely synthetic drugs. Thus, the discovery and engineering of related biosynthetic clusters of known natural products have been extensively studied.
SOLVING COMPLEX CHALLENGES:
- Large library can be used for many different therapeutic fields
- Novel products can be easily synthesized by NTxpress®
- Natural products will have favorable solubility and membrane transport
EMBRACING MODERN TECHNOLOGY:
- Library of natural products built from over 200,000 bacterial genomes
- Novel mechanism of action (MOA) of natural products can address unmet medical needs and antibiotic (AB) resistance
BUILT TO MEET MARKET NEEDS:
- Biogenic drugs with complimentary bioavailability, bioactivity, and physicochemical properties
- DruID® utilizes a large library of novel natural products
- Software calculates 3D target structure of natural products and binding sites for disease protein targets
