Critical to the success of antibody discovery is the combination of high-quality libraries with a high-throughput screening method allowing for the fast recovery of rare specificities. MAbstract^® technology has several advantages over competing technologies, such as no inherent limitation on antibody specificity. Using a streamlined procedure, selected antibody specificities are reformatted into fully human antibodies for expression in Crucell’s proprietary PER.C6^® cell line.

MAbstract^® technology for identification of neutralizing antibodies.

In several programs MAbstract^® has repeatedly shown its value in generating very potent antibodies in a short time frame. Antibodies generated against rabies virus, SARS coronavirus and West Nile virus were shown to fully protect against lethal virus challenge in small animal models. Moreover, some antibodies were shown to exhibit additive or synergistic effects thus extending the breadth of protection against viral variants and allowing for administration of very low total antibody doses.

Crucell has fully operational BSL-II GLP laboratories with integrated upstream and downstream capacities up to a 10L scale. These units are used to develop purification methods closely resembling an end-stage manufacturing process. With this facility, Crucell has the ability to manufacture monoclonal antibodies for comprehensive preclinical programs. Crucell has a fully operational facility that has been designed as a multi-purpose production plant, which allows for the production of clinical-grade monoclonal antibodies. These products can be manufactured on PER.C6^® technology under serum-free conditions in formats ranging from roller bottles to bioreactors. At present, Crucell is expanding the GMP production capacity to 100L working volumes.