Clonally derived cell lines (CDCL) from Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) host cell lines, remain the most popular method to manufacture therapeutic proteins. However, CHO cell pools are increasingly being used as an alternate method to produce therapeutic proteins for preclinical drug development in an effort to shorten the time required for new drug development. It is essential that these CHO pools exhibit the desired attributes of CHO CDCLs such as high protein titers and consistent product quality attributes (PQAs). In this study the authors evaluated the Leap-In Transposase®, for the expression of four different proteins (three mAbs and one Bispecific mAb). The resultant pool titers ranges from 2.0 to 5.0 g L for the four proteins compared to 1.5-3.3 g L from the respective control pools (generated by random gene integration). The resultant cell pools are a homogeneously expressing cell population. The average gene copy numbers are similar or lower in the evaluation pools relative to the control pools. The higher titers in the evaluation pools are attributed to higher levels of both IgG-LC and IgG-HC mRNA. In conclusion, the Leap-In transposase generates high titer, homogeneous CHO pools in a short time-period without introducing any undesired PQAs.

The development of highly productive, genetically stable manufacturing cell lines is on the critical path to IND filing for protein-based biologic drugs. Here, we describe the Leap-In Transposase® platform, a novel transposon-based mammalian (e.g., Chinese hamster ovary) cell line development system that produces high-titer stable pools with productivity and product quality attributes that are highly comparable to clones that are subsequently derived therefrom. The productivity distributions of clones are strongly biased toward high producers, and genetic and expression stability is consistently high. By avoiding the poor integration rates, concatemer formation, detrimental transgene recombination, low average expression level, unpredictable product quality, and inconsistent genetic stability characteristic of nonhomologous recombination methods, Leap-In provides several opportunities to de-risk programs early and reduce timelines and resources.

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