Q&A: Improving cell delivery with Abcam

Med-Tech Innovation editor Ian Bolland speaks to life sciences supplier Abcam about the company’s latest efforts to develop a new cell delivery solution that can potentially improve the therapeutic viability of molecules.

How is your delivery method compatible with the rise of complex medicines, e.g. biologics?

Abcam is working in close collaboration with SomaServe, a University College London spin-out with a deep expertise in cell delivery solutions. SomaServe exploits a proprietary technology termed PolyNaut to image live cells and improve the therapeutic viability of molecules with poor pharmacokinetic and chemical properties. PolyNaut technology is a versatile nano-engineered polymer technology for in vivo intracellular delivery. The resulting polymer nanoparticle vesicle is known as ’the bionic nanoparticle’. The widely diverse polymer structure is highly flexible and can accept small molecules, peptides and proteins, antibodies, nuclear material, dyes and probes. The resulting nanoparticles then deliver their cargo to the interior of the cell, greatly enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of the encapsulated molecules. In addition, it is possible to functionalise the vesicle surface with targeting ligands to aid penetration of biological barriers such as the blood-brain barrier. This cell delivery technology can also be successfully employed to enhance live cell imaging, which is an early application of the SomaServe/Abcam partnership. 

In addition to this, Abcam offers a number of key technologies that support scientists across the translational spectrum, from basic life sciences research through to the development of diagnostics and complex medicines such as biologics. Many of the scientists that we support are focused on helping to address an unmet clinical need, whether it be by developing faster, more accurate or new innovative diagnostics and stratification regimes, or treatments for conditions such as cancer or neurodegenerative disorders. Abcam has the technical expertise and capabilities to support innovative scientific discoveries while always maintaining constant quality and performance standards, from early- through to late-stage development. Our custom solutions offering is specifically well suited for this approach, leveraging our in-house capabilities and expertise to deliver tailored, flexible solutions, including but not limited to reagent generation, validation screens, custom assays and ISO standard manufacture.

What new or different areas does your partnership with SomaServe go into?

The first application of our partnership with SomaServe focuses on research applications and specifically live cell imaging. As it allows you to observe cell structures and processes in a dynamic way, live cell imaging enables researchers to gain a deeper understanding of a pathology, going far beyond what fixed cell studies allow. Our comprehensive partnership with SomaServe aims at developing novel delivery methods and revolutionising the use of live cell imaging to explore disease pathways. In addition, we are also looking into further applications to deliver a broader range of macromolecules to living cells. 

What range of payloads do nanoparticles carry to live cells?

The initial focus of our partnership is to develop and commercialise a new range of CelLuminate fluorescent dyes for live cell imaging applications, which exhibit clear advantages over other staining systems on the market. First and foremost, SomaServe’s nanoparticles are made by auto-assembly of amphiphilic GRAS (generally recognised as safe) copolymers that are non-toxic for cells. This allows longer observation periods with cells remaining stained and viable for 14 days. In addition, staining with CelLuminate dyes does not interfere with the cell metabolism, as there is no chemical solvent involved to solubilise the dyes, giving a clearer view of the processes upon staining. Finally, SomaServe’s nanoparticles have the ability to target a broad range of cells as they are absorbed via endocytosis, a natural process common to many cell types. 

Beyond live cell imaging use, we are also looking to explore broader applications by using the technology for the delivery of a wider range of payloads, including antibodies, proteins, peptides and nucleic acids.  

What kind of effect can your research and diagnostic development have on the pharma and biotech industries?

Beyond the partnership with SomaServe and its initial research application, Abcam is working hard to support research and diagnostic development in the pharma and biotech. Not only do we provide best-in-class validated recombinant rabbit monoclonal antibodies (RabMAbs) but also focus our efforts on material validation and data reproducibility, employing gold standard testing approaches including target knockout (KO) cell lines, for ultimate confirmation of specificity. This in turn provides a tool with minimal batch-to-batch variation and a clearly validated target binding profile, allowing our customers and partners to focus on their internal development efforts and not waste time on internal specificity testing or batch-to-batch comparisons. We also offer immunoassays at various plex (Simple Step Elisa and FirePlex kits), which have been very well received by our pharma and biotech customers, in particular due to their simplicity, sensitivity and reproducibility, again helping streamline and accelerate their internal R&D efforts. Lastly, it is important to note that our reagents are also available through our partnerships on a broad range of research and diagnostic platforms.

Developing KO cell lines to validate reagents takes time, typically around four months. The acquisition of the extensive portfolio of CRISPR KO cell lines from Edigene, coupled with our new in-house gene editing platform and associated oncology focused edited cell lines from our acquisition of Applied StemCell, have given us an extensive portfolio of these important reagents, available off the shelf. We are committed to giving the community the freedom and flexibility to get off-the-shelf cell lines with desired KO in appropriate background to support accelerating research and development efforts. 

What areas of treatment does your work cover?

Our core products are developed for the research use market and to provide these we have established a deep expertise and understanding of disease pathways in many key areas such as immuno-oncology, Neuroscience and epigenetics. In parallel, our custom solutions team provide expert development services for organisations who are developing diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutics. These programmes cover a broad range of therapeutic areas.  

What benefits do you expect to come from the SomaServe partnerships in relation to improving drug delivery?

While our partnership with SomaServe focuses on live cell imaging solutions, its sister company SomaNautix develops innovative nanoparticle-based therapies for the treatment of brain cancer. Beyond the scope of our ongoing collaboration with SomaServe we have invested in their technology, as we believe that their cell delivery technology has the potential to be transformational for oncology.