DPBIO and Leveragen Announce Strategic Partnership to Advance Antibody Discovery

December 12, 2024 at 08:18 AM EST

Dapu Biotechnology (DPBIO), an industry leader in droplet microfluidic technology, and Leveragen, Inc., a Boston-based biotech developing advanced genetic models for antibody discovery, have announced a strategic partnership to accelerate innovations in antibody drug development.

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DPBIO and Leveragen Announce Strategic Partnership to Advance Antibody Discovery (Graphic: Business Wire)

The collaboration brings together DPBIO’s Cytospark™ droplet microfluidic single-B cell antibody discovery platform and Leveragen’s Singularity Sapiens Mouse, a next-generation genetic model for fully human single-domain antibody development. By integrating these advanced technologies, the companies aim to overcome critical challenges in antibody discovery and deliver transformative solutions for complex therapeutic targets.

“Cytospark™ is designed to revolutionize antibody discovery with its speed and precision,” said Dr. Xiaonan Xu, Founder and CEO of DPBIO. “Partnering with Leveragen brings together our complementary strengths to deliver industry-leading solutions. Their Singularity Sapiens Mouse is a cutting-edge platform that addresses the limitations of traditional models, making this collaboration a milestone in advancing therapeutic innovation.”

The Cytospark™ platform uses droplet microfluidics to encapsulate, analyze, and screen millions of single cells in a single run, significantly reducing the time required for antibody discovery from months to just 1–2 days. This precision-driven, high-throughput system is particularly effective for identifying functional antibodies against complex and previously inaccessible targets.

Leveragen’s Singularity Sapiens Mouse exclusively generates heavy-chain antibodies from the complete human immunoglobulin repertoire integrated into the mouse genome. This approach eliminates interference from conventional antibodies, enabling normal B cell development and robust immune responses. The resulting fully human single-domain antibodies offer exceptional diversity, affinity, stability, and modularity, supporting broad therapeutic applications.

“We are excited to collaborate with DPBIO, whose Cytospark™ technology has redefined high-throughput functional antibody discovery,” said Dr. Weisheng Chen, Founder and CEO of Leveragen. “Their droplet microfluidics platform is unmatched in its efficiency and precision, making it a perfect complement to our Singularity Sapiens Mouse model. By integrating these technologies, we are expanding our antibody screening capabilities to unlock solutions for some of the most challenging disease targets.”

Under the agreement, the two companies will join forces to tackle a complex therapeutic target that has proven elusive through conventional technologies. Leveragen will retain exclusive rights to the intellectual property associated with the resulting antibodies, while DPBIO will be entitled to use de-identified data from the collaboration to demonstrate the capabilities of its proprietary microfluidic technology platform.

The partnership reflects the shared commitment of DPBIO and Leveragen to advancing antibody drug discovery, accelerating clinical translation, and addressing critical unmet medical needs.

About Dapu Biotechnology (DPBIO)

Founded in 2018 at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, DPBIO is a global leader in droplet microfluidics, delivering innovative solutions for life sciences and precision medicine. With research and manufacturing centers in Shenzhen and Jiaxing, China, DPBIO’s flagship products include the Cytospark™ High-throughput Screening System and the OMNIdrop System, supporting applications in antibody screening, enzyme evolution, and cancer research. For more information, visit dp-bio.com.

About Leveragen

A Boston-based genetic engineering company, Leveragen specializes in developing next-generation genetic models for antibody discovery. Its flagship Singularity Sapiens Mouse generates heavy-chain-only antibodies from the complete human VH repertoire targeted into the modified mouse Igh locus. This innovative platform eliminates interference from conventional antibodies, ensuring robust immune responses and exceptional antibody diversity and developability. Leveragen’s fully human single-domain antibody technologies underpin next-generation biologics, including multispecific antibodies, ADCs, and components for mRNA and cell therapies. For more information, visit leveragen.com.