Sartorius and UK-based startup SPARTA Biodiscovery have partnered on SPARTA’s analysis platform, designed to help accelerate the development, manufacture, and quality control of nanoparticles for biopharmaceuticals. Nanoparticles are small polymer or lipid capsules that act as carriers to deliver active agents to the target cells. As part of the alliance, Sartorius will invest up to £3.5 million in a minority shareholding in SPARTA through its corporate investment unit Sartorius Ventures.
 
The SPARTA technology – Single Particle Automated Raman Trapping Analysis – uses spectroscopy to analyze populations of individual nanoparticles quickly and automatically at high throughput – helping to accelerate nanoparticle development and optimize quality control during production.
 
“The SPARTA platform will help customers optimize the design of nanoparticles at an early stage, even before the drug candidates move on to the clinic. We have teamed up to bring additional product commercialization and application expertise to the table to facilitate a swift transitioning from prototype to launch,” said Prof. Dr. Oscar-Werner Reif, Head of Corporate Research and CTO at Sartorius.
 
“Often the challenge in bringing new therapies to life is not the development of new active agents, but safe and robust delivery of such agents into the body, e.g., through nanoparticles. We see an unmet need in R&D, manufacturing, and quality control in analyzing the composition of these nanoformulations. Together with Sartorius, we will be able to bring this technology to customers faster,” said Dr. Jelle Penders, CEO and co-founder of SPARTA Biodiscovery.