CellNova - a VINNOVA centre for development and production of next generation biological drugs
Reference number | |
Coordinator | Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan - Avdelningen för proteomik |
Funding from Vinnova | SEK 44 000 000 |
Project duration | January 2018 - December 2024 |
Status | Ongoing |
Purpose and goal
The long-term objective for the new VINNOVA Centre, CellNova, is to become one of the leading centres in the world for development and production of biological drugs. This will be achieved by leveraging competences and resources built up by the principal investigators as part of other complementary efforts. The Centre will focus on four broad research program areas, each with clearly described work packages defined together with the participating industries.
Expected results and effects
The vision of the centre is to become one of the leading academic centres in the world for the development of platforms for production of biological drugs. In the medium-term (six years), we aim to have new cell factory platforms, new drug candidates and a world unique resource of human secreted proteins. In the long term, we see the centre as a foundation of protein and cell science research with many opportunities to build strong groups based on the young principal investigators of the centre.
Planned approach and implementation
Four different programs will be performed. The first two involve the development of novel cells for production of proteins. By combining genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics with bioinformatics and systems biology we will improve CHO and yeast as host cells. The third program will focus on the generation of the world´s largest protein resource. This resource will be used for drug development. Finally, in the fourth program, protein engineered variants of biological drugs based on a combination of antibodies and protein scaffold binders will be designed and evaluated.