ChemPartner and Berkeley Lights Take Next Step in B Cell Antibody Discovery Collaboration

SHANGHAI and SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, California, May 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai ChemPartner a leading global Contract Research Organization (CRO), along with Berkeley Lights, Inc. (BLI), the leader in digital cell biology, announced today they have taken the next important step in their collaboration. ChemPartner has installed BLI's Beacon^® Optofluidic platform and is the first full-service CRO to offer B Cell antibody discovery services to its global client base. This new capability enhances ChemPartner's current antibody discovery platform and augments the end-to-end solutions the company offers for clients and partners.

Through the collaboration, and with BLI's support, ChemPartner will combine BLI's antibody discovery workflow for B cells with ChemPartner's assays. The Beacon^® platform is capable of automatically screening tens of thousands of plasma B cells or gene-edited cells, which speeds up a traditionally time-consuming, manual process. Cell characterizations are performed on the platform through a variety of serial or multiplexed fluorescence assays to determine antigen-specific binding to membrane-bound targets on live cells, relative affinity, and functional response with reporter cells. Individual cells with the desired characteristics are selected and exported for genomic profiling or further interrogation. The Beacon^® platform enables plasma B cell characterization in less than a day.

"The next step of our collaboration builds on a very successful Proof of Concept study that we completed and presented together with BLI at the Antibody Engineering and Therapeutics conference in December", said Wei Tang, CEO of ChemPartner. "We very much look forward to building on the foundation of this relationship to give ChemPartner's diverse global client base access to this state-of-the-art technology in antibody discovery."

"This collaboration has demonstrated the flexibility of the Beacon^® platform as we incorporated the ChemPartner assays to further accelerate antibody discovery," said Andy Last, Chief Commercial Officer at Berkeley Lights, Inc. "We look forward to continuing to work with ChemPartner to further deliver efficiencies to their global clients."

To learn more about ChemPartner's B Cell antibody discovery services visit: http://www.chempartner.com/biologics/b-cell-cloning/.

To learn more about the Beacon platform's Antibody Discovery Workflow visit: https://www.berkeleylights.com/beacon-applications/antibody-discovery/.

About ChemPartner

Shanghai ChemPartner, offers a broad range of drug discovery and development capabilities including discovery biologics discovery, chemistry and medicinal chemistry, biology and pharmacology, DMPK and exploratory toxicology, CMC and Biologics CMC.  Shanghai ChemPartner serves a diverse global client base and has laboratories, business offices, and representatives in the US, Europe, China, and Japan.

About Berkeley Lights:

Berkeley Lights, Inc. (BLI) Berkeley Lights is a digital cell biology company that develops and commercializes platforms for the acceleration of discovery, development, and delivery of cell based products and therapies. At the intersection of biology, technology and information, our platforms automate the manipulation, analysis and selection of individual cells, creating ultimate scalability and deep cell insights. The Beacon platform* is ideally suited for cell line development, antibody discovery (including direct B-cell workflows), gene editing, and antibody engineering workflows. Each workflow provides a 100 fold increase in insights, 10 times faster, at a fraction of the cost.

* For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.

For more information, visit www.berkeleylights.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION 
Contact:
Livia Legg, MS,
Chief Commercial Officer
news@chempartner.com