Bioengineering
The bioengineering group tailors proteins or antibodies of interest to suit partners’ needs through structural and sequence analysis, designing custom constructs for expression in bacteria, yeast, insect, and mammalian cells. Our strategic protein engineering allows for the generation of recombinant fusion proteins with enhanced properties for streamlined expression and purification as well as improved pharmacokinetics and developability. For antibodies specifically, we engineer bi-, poly-, and multi-specific binders, modify glycosylation, and carry out humanization. Our team is adept at constructing antibody prototypes and targeted libraries for affinity maturation, improved developability, and bioconjugations.
Molecular Biology
The molecular biology team turns sequences into plasmids, rapidly generating large-scale transfection-grade material that is primed for integration into our protein expression platforms. We generate plasmids de novo, modify existing plasmids to include specific tags, and develop targeting screening libraries. Our PCR and ligation-based systems are exercised to maximize yield, purity, and specificity of constructs. Large-scale transfection-grade plasmids can rapidly be supplied for use in our downstream expression work.
Antibody Discovery and Optimization
The Antibody Discovery and Optimization group works with partners to develop the best strategy to discover human therapeutic antibodies. With a desired target antibody profile, we design, produce, and QC antigens to be screened with our proprietary fully human Fab and Nanobody phage display libraries. Once lead molecules have been characterized, we can further optimize them for affinity and developability using our proprietary yeast display platform. In addition, we can adapt discovered molecules into bi- or multi-specific formats to fit our partners’ needs.
Protein Sciences
The protein sciences team expertly executes protein expression, purification, and bioconjugation activities. We have routinely utilize diverse mammalian, yeast, insect, and bacterial cell lines, and work with our partners’ to find the most suitable system to suit their expression needs. We carefully craft strategic plans for each protein entering our streamlined expression and purification platforms. With purified material in hand, we are proficient in multiple downstream approaches including cys- and NHS ester-mediated bioconjugation, as well as labelling and PEGylation of proteins for use in characterization and functional assays.
Analytics
The analytical development team assesses the quality of material produced internally with biophysical, biochemical, and bioanalytical techniques. HPLC, interferometry, and plate-based methods allow us to measure purity and developability potential of protein therapeutics. We use SPR, BLI, and a variety of solution-based techniques to determine binding parameters and epitope binning for antibody-antigen pairs. For promising drug candidates, we screen formulations and perform in-use stability studies to enable us to make stable formulations for PK/PD animal studies. We also validate commercially available ELISAs and/or develop de novo assays for a variety of animal tissues to carry out PK/PD testing from pre-clinical studies.
Cell Based Assays
The cell-based assays team provides diverse tools to assess functionality of proteins and antibodies produced at Mosaic or by our partners. With commercially available as well as in-house overexpression/knockout cell lines, we can validate and characterize the functional activity of known and novel compounds in relevant biological systems. This functional profiling regularly includes binding capacity and affinity, activation/inhibition of signaling cascades, intracellular transport of compounds, proliferation, survival, and protein synthesis/secretion. Information from our routine or custom in vitro assays is used for screening lead candidates, elucidating mechanism-of-action, and to inform the use of novel compounds in pre-clinical animal studies.
Programs Leads and Project Managers
When a partnership with Mosaic is initiated, each project is assigned a dedicated scientific lead and project manager that will oversee the work through its completion. Backed by biopharma executive leadership, our leads and project managers guide programs through each project-specific stage, ensuring seamless communication, execution, and delivery of results. To augment our capabilities we have assembled a network of experienced consultants to provide advice and help solve the toughest problems.