“Protein G uniquely binds to many mammalian IgGs, such as murine, rat, goat, and bovine, making it an important tool in antibody discovery, cell line development and production monitoring,” said Christopher Silva, vice president of marketing at ForteBio.
Silva told Outsourcing-pharma that: “Protein G biosensors can generate [interaction] results in as little as 15 minutes,” explaining that using the sensors in conjunction with Octet instrumentation platform “enables researchers can process 96 samples at a time.
Based on the company’s BioLayer interferometry (BLI) technology, it is able to measure multiple interactions in parallel using optical biosensors, and without the need for detection agents.
The Dip and Read Protein G biosensors, which are manufactured in an ISO 9001:2008-certified facility can also be, as Silva points out, regenerated and reused, as they are coated with a proprietary biocompatible matrix that is uniform, non-denaturing, and has minimal non-specific binding.
This is a design concept which enables ForteBio customers to “make savings in running costs,” compared to SPR-based assays and ELIZA.
In addition, the company claims the biosensors simplify quantitation and kinetics assays by eradicating throughput limitations caused by microfluidic flow, surface regeneration, and sample purification. This leads to “productivity improvement so more projects can be carried out,” commented Silva.
Despite this, traditional igG quantification methods for different species and subtypes using Protein G are “complicated, labour-intensive and time-consuming,” he said, which is precisely the reason why ForteBio’s Protein G biosensors have been designed to take measurements “with unprecedented speed.”
The California-based company claim this is wholly due to the biosensor’s simplicity of use, and cost-efficiency, and according to Silva, “there are no other fast, real-time methods to extract antibodies, allowing huge levels of production.”