Prolific Machines Sets New mAb Productivity Benchmark at 21 g/L
By harnessing light-controlled gene expression, Prolific Machines has more than doubled the standard fed-batch CHO productivity benchmark, opening the door to the scalable manufacture of complex biologics.
Pioneering biotechnology company that is advancing biologics development and manufacturing through integrated optogenetics-enabled solutions, Prolific Machines, has set a new industry benchmark for intensified fed-batch titers of a monoclonal antibody (mAb). The company revealed, in a May 5, 2026 press release, that it has achieved a productivity milestone in an intensified fed-batch Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line run of 21 g/L over a period of 15 days (1).
This level of productivity is significantly higher than the current industry standard volumetric titers for expression of mAbs in CHO, which have been reported as 10 g/L over a period of 14 to 18 days (2). The milestone achievement has been attributed to the company’s light-controlled biomanufacturing platform, “which uses light and optogenetics to directly and dynamically control gene expression inside living cells” (1).
“To our knowledge, this result represents the highest reported titer for an antibody produced in a fed-batch format,” said Deniz Kent, Ph.D., Co-founder and CEO, Prolific Machines, in a company press release (1). “The real opportunity lies in next-generation complex biologics such as multispecifics, cytokines, and fusion proteins. These molecules represent more than 50% of today's early pipelines, yet developability challenges and chronically low yields continue to compromise their commercial viability. We've shown up to three-fold yield increases in that space, and are now working with multiple partners to enable high-yield manufacturing of promising molecules.”
“After more than 20 years in the industry, I’m proud to have been one of the first scientists to have witnessed fed-batch titers exceed 20 grams per liter,” commented Julien Meissonnier, Independent Director for Prolific Machines, and former Chief Scientific Officer of Catalent at the time it launched its GPEx Lightning cell line development platform, in the press release (1). “To emphasize the strength of Deniz's team's results: in my experience in the industry, including running the team that created a leading CHO cell line, GPEx Lightning, I've never seen data of this quality at this stage. This is clearly different and has a great potential to enable more complex biologics to reach patients and become the standard for the future of biomanufacturing.”
The success of the run highlights the robustness of the company's process design, which sustained a specific productivity of approximately 60 pg/cell/day and reached a peak viable cell density of 33 million cells/mL while maintaining 87% viability at harvest. According to the company, these operational metrics point to the stability and commercial scalability of the platform.
References
Prolific Machines. Prolific Machines Sets New Industry Benchmark with 21 g/L Antibody Titer, Doubling Standard Fed-Batch Performance with Light-Controlled Gene Expression. Press Release, May 5, 2026.
Mahé, A.; Martiné, A.; Fagète, S.; Girod, P.-A. Exploring the Limits of Conventional Small-Scale CHO Fed-Batch for Accelerated on Demand Monoclonal Antibody Production. Bioprocess. Biosyst. Eng. 2021, 45 (2), 297–307.