Cobra Biologics and The University of Manchester have been awarded collaborative funding of £217,000 as one of 23 projects that will share £20 million from the Innovate UK / Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

The joint project, PeriTune, will work to develop a protein expression optimization platform for the robust production of biologics. This platform aims to address key bottlenecks and manufacturability challenges of recombinant proteins used in both biopharma medicines and industrial biotechnology.
 
The platform will utilize the tuneable gene expression control technology RiboTite, developed at The University of Manchester, along with Cobra’s expertise in bioprocessing scale up. The PeriTune project will allow Cobra to investigate the use of the RiboTite technology in controlling levels of secreted protein production in E.coli, and also the manufacturing robustness of the system during fermentation scale up.
 
Dr. Daniel Smith, chief scientific officer of Cobra Biologics, said, “We are looking forward to collaborating closely with Dr. Neil Dixon, his team at the University of Manchester, and their innovative RiboTite technology. This is a very exciting project for Cobra, as it has the potential to expand our current microbial production toolbox, providing alternative routes for controlling protein expression for a wide range of potential new protein-based therapeutics.”