ImmunoPrecise Antibodies (IPA) has announced the opening of its new, innovative full-service B-cell facility offering B-cell screening, sorting and sequencing on a broad range of therapeutically relevant protein families including G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) and other multi-membrane-spanning proteins. 

The immediate benefit to IPA is that B-cell services will now be provided in-house and it greatly increases the profit margin of the services offered by the company.

The addition of B-cell capabilities establishes IPA as the first full-service discover antibody contract research organisation (CRO) in North America or Europe to provide a globally-operating, full pipeline of therapeutic discovery offerings from target selection, on-site animal access, advanced hybridoma discovery, B-cell screening and sequencing, antibody characterisation, phage display, in-vitro and in-vivo analyses.

IPA’s new facility uses innovative technology that allows for antibody screening from any species of animals, allowing for a greater diversity of animal repertoires, from any tissue sample, to allow for faster, deeper antibody screening compared to traditional technologies.

Its new facility’s technology greatly increases the speed of antibody discovery platforms and maintains native antibody pairing, recently demonstrated to be superior to by decreasing false positives, and providing antibodies of higher sensitivity and specificity.

IPA’s technology is applicable to any protein class, including complex therapeutic targets such as GPCRs and ion channels.

With the launch of the new facility, IPA is able to guarantee the outcomes of producing target specific antibodies for each campaign.

The addition of the B-cell sorting facility completes IPA’s full service platform for antibody discovery process of antibodies, and is expected to be followed with the opening of a similar facility in Europe the second half of 2018.

President and CEO of IPA Jennifer L Bath said: “The opening of our new, innovative full service B-cell facility offering B-cell screening, sorting and sequencing on a broad range of therapeutically-relevant protein families including GPCRs and other multi-membrane spanning proteins completes our full service antibody discovery platform to achieve the value chain for the discovery of therapeutic antibodies.

“B-cell screening, sorting and sequencing capability provides enhanced technological capacity that substantially increases throughput and identification therapeutically relevant antibodies.”

Since 2009, IPA has provided clients access to single B-cell sorting capability however with the increased capability and technology of the new facility, IPA will combine its B-cell sorting capability with sequencing and screening technology to ensure it can bring all these capabilities to its antibody discovery platform.

Jennifer L Bath added: “The industry has increasingly identified its needs to out-source its antibody discovery process to a single source provider who has the technical and technological capability for high throughput and higher probability of identifying therapeutically relevant antibodies.

“We anticipate IPA’s global footprint and antibody discovery industry leadership will enable the further growth and expansion of our platform.”

The whole value chain of the IPA antibody discovery platform provides a single source for antibody discovery of therapeutic antibodies from inception of the target to clinical trials.