Bill Morrison

Yesterday I sat with our board, crunching the numbers for a “standard” 250 L HEK293 AAV run. What we found wasn’t pretty: $3.5 million for a single campaign. GMP-grade plasmids alone ran north of $300,000. We need to face the truth.  HEK293 for AAV gene therapy production is a bad idea. Especially if we're serious about getting these therapies to millions of people.  - Suspension culture is fragile - Plasmid costs are brutal - Downstream cleanup is a biochemical soup of host cell proteins, degraded DNA, and partial capsids We’ve all lived the nightmare of trying to salvage a critical prep, only to realize the yield loss happened long before purification. But here’s what a plant-based system changes: 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀. The plants grow in a greenhouse, not in an expensive GMP cleanroom.  𝗡𝗼 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱. Just light, nutrient water, and controlled infiltration.  𝗙𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀. Plant hosts don’t shed HCPs or DNA fragments that mimic mammalian proteins. 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. Leaf tissue holds AAV like a sponge - so you’re not racing against a freeze-thaw clock. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Grow, harvest, and extract anywhere. No stainless-steel jungle required. This isn’t theory.  We’re running this process today. For programs that need scale without the burn rate... Come to the plant side.

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The updated WHO bacterial priority pathogens list now places CRE and ESBL at the top of the critical group, underscoring their global burden, transmissibility, difficult treatability, lack of prevention options, and few R&D pipeline programs in development. https://lnkd.in/epWQzDmm

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We are excited to announce our new alliance with My Green Lab. At SciSure, our mission is to facilitate unburdened, uncompromised, safe, and sustainable scientific advancement through our Scientific Management Platform (SMP). We recognize the importance of joining forces with leading organizations that can help us fulfill that mission for our customers. My Green Lab, led by James Connelly, has ignited a global shift toward environmentally responsible scientific research by helping labs to reduce their environmental impact. Check out our press release and follow our journey at SciSure to learn more: https://lnkd.in/ea3RdJne

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Qkine Limited and Akron Bio Announce Strategic Partnership - https://lnkd.in/gcPdUDgQ Collaboration to Deliver High-Quality Cytokines and Growth Factors to Enable the Advancement of Stem Cell-Based Therapeutics Cambridge, UK and Boca Raton, FL – January 27, 2026 – Qkine Limited, a leading innovator in the development of high-quality growth factors and cytokines, and Akron Bio, a leading supplier of critical materials and services to the cell and gene therapy industry, today announced a strategic partnership focused on the joint development and global supply of ancillary materials to enable the development of stem cell-based therapeutics. This collaboration combines Qkine’s proprietary growth factor and cytokine technologies with Akron’s established GMP manufacturing capabilities and long-standing focus on providing solutions to cell and gene therapy developers. Together, the companies will accelerate the development and delivery of innovative, high-performance recombinant proteins essential for stem cell expansion, differentiation, and maturation, addressing the need for reliable, consistent, and scalable solutions in the rapidly evolving field of regenerative medicine. Dr. Robert Scoffin, CEO of Qkine Limited, commented: “We are delighted to partner with Akron Bio, whose reputation in GMP manufacturing and global reach complements our commitment to scientific excellence and innovation. Together, we will enable our customers to develop and manufacture advanced stem cell therapies using the highest quality reagents, with the assurance of regulatory compliance and supply chain security.” Akron Bio’s Chief Operating Officer, Ezequiel Zylberberg, added: “Our partnership with Qkine strengthens our ability to provide comprehensive solutions across the cell therapy workflow that enable the development of novel therapeutic modalities. We are thrilled to partner with the team at Qkine, leveraging their world-class protein development capabilities to launch differentiated products that enable the industrialization of cell therapy manufacturing.” Through this partnership, Qkine’s hematopoietic growth factors and cytokines critical for the manufacture of stem cell-based therapeutics will be made available globally and exclusively through Akron’s commercial channels, thereby providing security of supply to innovators. Moreover, the two companies will partner to develop next-generation products aimed at supporting the automated production of cell therapies, thereby enabling greater access to these life-saving treatments.

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Citation report: cAP-0001RFP: RFP-HUVECs https://lnkd.in/eRsaax9 cAP-0001VECAD-GFP: VECAD_GFP-HUVECs https://lnkd.in/gvCx7ATh Use of VE-CAD-GFP and RFP-Expressing HUVECs (Angio-Proteomie): VE-CAD-GFP and RFP-expressing HUVECs (Angio-Proteomie, cAP-0001VECAD-GFP and cAP-0001RFP) were used as key components of the vascular compartment in the bone marrow-on-a-chip model. Specifically, RFP-HUVECs were used to visualize and construct perfusable vascular networks that mimic the central sinus and other vascular regions of the bone marrow (Fig. 1a and 1e). These fluorescently labeled HUVECs allowed real-time live imaging of CAR T cell trafficking, especially to observe: T cell extravasation from blood vessels into the leukemia niche (Fig. 2b), Migration dynamics within the bone marrow compartment, Cell-to-cell interaction between CAR T cells and leukemia blasts (e.g., formation of immunological synapses). VE-CAD-GFP HUVECs contributed to modeling the endothelial cell junctions, enabling more detailed tracking of T cell transendothelial migration. These cells were essential to demonstrate the role of vasculature in modulating CAR T cell behavior, such as: Differences in early vs. late CAR T cell distribution between vascularized and avascularized chips, Impact on CAR T cell expansion and killing efficiency.

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Big news! Element Biosciences and Twist Bioscience are expanding our partnership in a big way. We’re teaming up to co-develop targeted #sequencing end-to-end solutions that brings Twist’s powerful panels on the Trinity workflow to our AVITI sequencer — pioneering fast, industry leading performance sequencing and together making it more accessible than ever. Science just got a serious upgrade. https://lnkd.in/gKk3ic4A

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🚨 We’re proud to be part of The 3Rs Collaborative (3RsC)’s (@NA3RsC) Microphysiological Systems (MPS) initiative. The MPS initiative works together to increase industry adoption and regulatory acceptance of MPS technologies with the ultimate goal of refining, reducing, and replacing research animals, which is the perfect fit for mo:re. For us, the decision was simple. We have seen how standardization can reduce uncertainty and increase adoption in 3D cell culture workflows, and we know that collaboration is essential if we want to make these models broadly useful. It felt like stepping into a room where everyone is working toward the same direction: Developing more predictive models to accelerate drug discovery and spare thousands of animals from unnecessary suffering. Learn more about our efforts in this group on the 3RsC website: https://lnkd.in/eajzgbzs

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$TELO Big step forward for us at Telomir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: TELO). Working with Eurofins Discovery, we’ve shown that Telomir-1 can restore key epigenetic marks by inhibiting the KDM5 family of enzymes. These marks act like switches that help control which genes are active. In diseases like cancer, aging, and neurodegeneration, those switches can be lost — shutting down critical defenses. Seeing Telomir-1 reset these marks adds to our growing confidence in its potential as a new kind of therapy built on the science of epigenetic reset. 📢 Full press release here: https://lnkd.in/eEUsq4hP #Biotech #Epigenetics #Innovation #Leadership #Cancer #Aging

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This Perspective discusses key challenges, practical insights, and lessons learned from ongoing #LNP development efforts, with emphasis on characterization strategies, delivery specificity, scale-up considerations, long-term stability, and emerging applications of artificial intelligence.  https://lnkd.in/eRvpdnhQ

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