Cell Line Development Services - Abzena

Mammalian Cell Line Development

Accelerate from DNA to RCB in just 10 weeks with our industry-leading mammalian cell line development services. Our CLD offering is fully portable, has no Abzena exit fees, no royalties and a single milestone payment at IND*. Discover our enhanced, mammalian cell line development platforms - AbZelectPRO™, AbZelectPRO™-KO, & AbZelectPRO™-KO+.

Watch Video Cell Line Development Info Sheet

The Abzena Advantage: One Partner. Less Time in Development. Less Risk.

We remove the gaps, dependencies & delays that slow your program from cell line to GMP.

CLD Services - Scale Confidently from Bench to GMP

Scale Confidently from Bench to GMP

  • Consistent, high-titer material at 50L, 500L and 2,000L — no performance cliffs
  • Minimal upstream process development (PD)
  • High-quality stable pools & clones that perform the same at every scale
CLD Services - Faster to Drug Substance

Faster to Drug Substance

  • Stable pool material enables downstream, analytical & formulation work to start immediately
  • Fewer upstream PD cycles compresses your timeline to IND-enabling studies
  • Tox material provision decoupled from final cell line selection
CLD Services - De-Risk Your Critical Path

De-Risk Your Critical Path

  • Analytical, formulation, & downstream PD run in parallel with CLD to reduce bottlenecks
  • Stable, predictable material reduces late-stage reformulation & process failures
  • One integrated partner removes handoff risk & keeps momentum

Compress Your Timeline. Eliminate the White Space.

Fast, Scalable & Stable Cell Line Development Services

At Abzena, we know that stable mammalian cell line development (CLD) is the key to unlocking breakthrough biologics and bioconjugates. That is why we’ve partnered with industry leaders like Revvity and ProteoNic Biosciences – delivering our AbZelectPRO™, AbZelectPRO™-KO, and AbZelectPRO™-KO+ platforms to empower your most complex projects with unmatched flexibility and performance. With almost 25 years of experience and a commitment to quality excellence, we can reduce your CLD timelines by >30%.

Abzena offer flexible standalone cell Lines or fully integrated to GMP solutions. These are available with transparent pricing to IND with no royalty fees and no exit fees.

CLD Services - ProteoNic’s 2G UNic Vector - Abzena

  • ProteoNic’s 2G UNic® increases CHO productivity through enhanced transcription, translation, and stability—enabling rapid CLD.

CLD Services - Revvity’s CHOSOURCE™ GS Knockout Cell Line - Abzena

  • Revvity’s CHOSOURCE™ GS‑knockout is a cGMP‑manufactured, CHO‑K1 suspension cell line with a strong development track record.
  • CHOSOURCE™ ADCC+ is a dual GS and fucosyltransferase knockout, enabling production of afucosylated proteins.

*Strategic Partner fee applicable if/when license holder transfers asset to another party.

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Achieve More With Our Enhanced CLD Platforms: AbZelectPRO™ & AbZelectPRO™-KO

Flexible Standalone Cell Lines or – Fully Integrated to GMP Solutions

CLD Services - Higher Productivity

Higher
Productivity

High-quality mAb titers up to 10 g/L, sustained over 60 generations

CLD Services - Proven Performance

Proven
Performance

>90 INDs & 4 Marketed Drugs with Revvity GS KO line & >20 INDs with 2G UNic® Vector

CLD Services - Rapid Timelines

Reduced
Timelines

Stable Pools in 3 weeks, RCB in 10 weeks, GMP in 6 Months

CLD Services - No Extra Fees

Transparent & Cost Effective

No Royalty Fees & No Exit Fees. Single milestone payment at IND only

Leverage Abzena’s >20 years of CLD expertise and state-of-the-art quality & analytical technologies to de-risk the path to IND.

 

Contact Our CLD Experts

Flexible CHO Cell Line Development Platform Solutions That Fit Your Strategy

Integrated partnered technologies that accelerate & enhance CLD workflows

Cell Line Development Solutions - AbZelectPRO™-KO - Abzena
Cell Line Development Solutions - AbZelectPRO™-KO - Abzena
Cell Line Development Solutions - AbZelectPRO™-KO+ - Abzena

All platforms use off-the-shelf commercial media and feeds that are chemically defined & animal component-free.

AbZelectPRO™-KO+: The Specialized Platform for Afucosylated Proteins

What are your drug development goals? - Abzena

Discover The Advanced GS Knockout ADCC+ CLD Platform

  • Revvity’s CHOSOURCE™ ADCC+ cell line is a double knockout of both the glutamine synthetase (GS) & fucosyltransferase genes
  • Enables the production of fully afucosylated proteins on a traditional GS background

Why afucosylated antibodies?
Elimination of the fucose in the Fc glycan structure is known to enhance Antibody Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity of NK effector cells by increasing binding to the FcγRIIIa (CD16a) receptor.

  • Increases therapeutic efficacy of antibodies, particularly in oncology, anti-infectious & anti-inflammatory conditions
  • Increase in drug potency, expanding therapeutic window & reducing dosage requirements
  • Potentially reduces undesirable side effects & broadens patient population
Discover AbZelectPRO™-KO+

Expertise in Developing Mammalian Cell Lines for Biologics Manufacturing

With over 20 years of experience and a commitment to quality excellence, our dedicated CLD team has developed hundreds of cell lines that have rapidly progressed from IND through to clinical trials.

Our mammalian cell line development offering includes:

  • Extensive expertise & flexibility to apply our processes to other proprietary host cell lines, including: CHOSOURCE™ (GS Knockout), CHOSOURCE™ ADCC+ (GS Knockout), CHO-K1, CHO-ZN, CHO BIOP3
  • Diverse formats expressed – mAbs, Fabs, BsABs, fusion proteins, vaccines, nanoparticles, etc.
  • Regulatory track record – >90 INDs & 4 marketed drugs with CHOSOURCE™ cell lines & >20 INDs with 2G UNic® vector
  • Stability – Sustained productivity up to 60 generations
  • Rapid timelines – DNA to Research Cell Banks in 10 weeks and 18 weeks for Master Cell Banking
  • Next-gen vector technology – ProteoNic’s 2G UNic vector offers increased titer with exceptional clone stability
  • Higher product yield – expression of IgG titre up to 10g/L
  • Quality – Reproducible PQA at all stages, full traceability, compliant with ICH-Q5
  • Robust scalable process – up to 2,000L
  • In-house state-of-the-art analytics – stage-appropriate, fit-for-purpose assessments and technologies
  • Fast stable pool material generation – stand-alone gram-scale material supply for early process, analytical, formulation, or tox studies up to 12L.
  • Fully integrated CLD programs – from transfection and cloning through stability and cGMP biologics manufacturing.

Latest CHO Cell Line Development Info Sheet

Abzena's Robust-Flexible AbZelectPRO Cell Line Platforms Info Sheet - Abzena

Each CLD project is tailored to your needs and handled by a dedicated team that works with you from project kick-off to completion. Whether you’re in need of fast stable pool material to generate data or a fully integrated CLD program, our team works with you to get an in-depth understanding of your molecule to determine the best strategy to reduce timelines without compromising quality.

Find out how our newly enhanced CLD solution provides the foundation of biopharmaceutical development success by downloading our new info sheet.

New Info Sheet Discover AbZelectPRO™

Our Approach to Mammalian Cell Line Development

AbZelectPRO™: Enhanced Cell Line Development - Abzena

Our unique standalone or fully integrated CLD approach encompasses three key steps to ensure a robust and scalable cell line:

  • ​Optimize construct & vector design at the start​
  • Leverage comprehensive analytical capabilities to rapidly characterize molecules​
  • Ensure only clones with desired attributes advance through CLD process
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Our CHO Cell Line Development Workflow

Cell Line Development Workflow - Abzena

Material Generation Using Fast Stable Pools

Having high quality material is essential to generate data you can trust in early development. At Abzena, we have a variety of options for generating material that are stage-appropriate from mg to gram scale for fast stable pools to remove activities off the CLD critical path. Abzena’s experts in our downstream bioprocessing laboratory are well equipped to provide up to 10g of non-GMP shake-flask material that can either support:

  • Stand-alone material supply for mAb or bioconjugation programs
  • Non-GMP material supply for activities including:
    • Early downstream process development and DoE using PreDictor plates
    • Analytical method development
    • Preliminary stability studies
    • Formulation development
    • In vivo studies – including early dose- ranging and non-GLP toxicology

Key elements include:

  • Gram- scale production in as little as 7 weeks
  • Not limited to mAbs, able to produce material for bispecifics, fusion proteins, non-mAbs
  • Platform processes for swift progression through process development
  • Rapid development of high-quality clones for manufacturing
  • Utilization of widely available chemically defined commercial media and feeds for easier transfer

Success in CLD Starts with Effective Analytics

Stage-appropriate, fit-for-purpose assessments & technologies provide in-house analytical solutions.

Abzena offers state-of-the art analytical capabilities to support CLD. We understand that analytical methods are essential to all aspects of pre-clinical drug development, informing critical decisions and de-risking subsequent development phases. For CLD, we use advanced screening assays to identify and select top-performing clones for robust protein expression.

This includes measuring product titers, evaluating growth characteristics, and performing early-stage quality checks – such as glycosylation profiling or charge heterogeneity – to ensure each clone meets specific project goals based on the target product profile (TPP).

Key in-house capabilities include:

  • Robust Characterization
  • Developability Assessments
  • Mass-Spec Capabilities
  • Formulation Development
Discover Analytical Method Development

Fully Integrated Support from CLD through to IND

Cell Line Development Approach - Abzena

What sets our mammalian cell line development services and solutions apart?

  • We offer standalone or fully integrated cell line development workflows that shorten timelines to IND enabling material, supported by using fast stable pools to generate early-stage material for characterization, pre-formulation, analytics and lead molecule selection.
  • Our CLD offering is fully portable, has no Abzena exit fees, no royalties and a single milestone payment at IND*.
  • For complex biologic programs, we deliver increased productivity through our AbZelectPRO™, AbZelectPRO™-KO and AbZelectPRO™-KO+ platforms, which combines either our host CHO-K1 cell line or Revvity’s CHOSOURCE™ with ProteoNic’s premium expression vector technology 2G UNic®.
  • Applying our technologies and experience in proteomics, protein engineering, bioconjugation and formulation development, we design novel subunit and conjugate vaccine candidates.
  • We have the flexibility and expertise to apply our processes to other proprietary host cell lines.
  • Transparent pricing which includes ProteoNic and Revvity fees to IND.
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ProteoNic’s 2G UNic® Vector Technology

  • Combines optimized proprietary genetic elements in one vector
  • Double promoters drive higher rates of transcription
  • Optimized UTRs stabilize mRNA and enhance ribosome binding
  • Epigenetic stabilization for greater stability and reduced gene silencing
  • Over 20 IND filings using 2G UNic®

Benefits

  • Stable pools expressing 3-4g/L in 4 weeks
  • Clones expressing up to 10g/L in 10 weeks
  • Clone stability to over 60 generations
Learn more about ProteoNic

Discover AbZelectPRO™

About AbZelectPRO™ CLD Platform

Move your cell line development efficiency forwards with our AbZelectPRO™ platform.

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Latest AbZelectPRO™ Info Sheet

AbZelectPRO™-KO & AbZelectPRO™-KO+, new CHOSOURCE™ GS knockout platforms are available as a standalone CLD offering or as a fully integrated GMP program.

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Enhanced AbZelectPRO™ News

Enhancing our AbZelectPRO™ mammalian cell line development offering with two new GS knockout platforms including double GS knockout with ADCC+.

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Related Services

Cell Line Characterization

The safety and quality of your biologic product starts with the right cell line, discover our GMP-compliant cell line characterization methods.

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Research Cell Banking (RCB)

From transfection pools or non-clonal cell lines we apply our robust single cell cloning process to rapidly isolate and identify the most productive monoclonal populations.

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Vaccine Development

Applying our solutions and experience in proteomics, protein engineering, bioconjugation and formulation development, we design novel subunit and conjugate vaccine candidates.

Learn More

Analytical Development

Your product development program will be accelerated by leveraging our expansive in-house capabilities, technologies, and knowledge to deliver methods tailored to your molecule of interest.

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Formulation Development

With a focus on aligning your drug candidates to the ideal target product profile (TPP) we develop a comprehensive range of formulation development packages.

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Process Development

Seamless upstream and downstream biologics process development, optimization and cGMP manufacturing from cell line development (CLD) to patient.

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Mammalian Cell Line Development FAQs

What is AbZelectPRO™?

AbZelectPRO™ is our enhanced CHO-K1 cell line development platform, offering high yields and rapid progression from DNA to RCB in 10 weeks. Our GS Knockout (KO and KO+) technologies further enhance stability and efficiency, de-risking the IND journey.

How can AbZelectPRO™ support next-generation therapies?

Our AbZelectPRO™ platform supports efficient, stable production of both traditional and difficult-to-express therapies such as fusion proteins, bispecifics, and other novel modalities by combining ProteoNic’s 2G UNic® premium vector technology with a CHO host cell line. Further enhanced with our GS Knockout (KO and KO+) systems, it features a unique double promoter to drive gene expression and mRNA stability, achieving higher viable cell density and productivity than other platforms.

How does the AbZelectPRO™ platform offer flexibility?

Our AbZelectPRO™ platforms are designed to provide the flexibility needed to support your unique antibody-based therapy, whether that’s a monoclonal antibody (mAb), bispecific antibody, fusion protein or a novel modality. Leveraging our analytical development and regulatory expertise, we can adapt our testing methods or develop new assays to safeguard the quality of your therapy from CLD to manufacturing.

What titres can be achieved in cell line development, and how fast?

For standard IgG mAbs, Abzena can reach titres up to 10 g/L at the ambr15 clonal assessment stage, with research cell banks ready in as little as 10 weeks from transfection.

Do you use a transposase approach in cell line development?

Abzena uses a random integration approach, which delivers stable, high-yielding clonal lines comparable to transposase methods. Our capability is further enhanced with our two new GS Knockout cell lines. We guide clients toward context-driven CLD decisions. Our findings empower drug developers to reconsider assumptions and embrace the method best suited for their molecule, timeline, and budget. Please download our detailed whitepaper including recent case studies following the link below.

Random Integration vs. Semi-Targeted Integration in Stable Cell Line Development

What is the track record of your cell line development platform?

Abzena’s CLD platform has advanced more than 20 programs into the clinic. With proven performance, more than 90 INDs and four marketed drugs.

What does the tech transfer process look like for cell line development?

Efficient tech transfer is a common area of focus when relying on a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for support, being critical for the smooth transition of projects from CLD into manufacturing. Operating across our sites in Cambridge, UK, and San Diego, US, our teams work closely together to ensure the seamless progression of your project. Our extensive experience and collaborative culture allow us to proactively identify and prevent risks that could delay your therapy reaching patients.

Learn more about AbZelectPRO™