Single Cell Cloning Antibody Generation
with the Beacon® Optofluidic System

Rapid Antibody Discovery to Accelerate Timelines with Single Cell Cloning

Several methodologies have been developed for generating monoclonal antibodies with hybridoma being the most widely used method. However, despite being an important and reliable antibody discovery engine this process has notable limitations, such as being time-consuming, laborious, and low-efficiency.

Single B cell cloning technology is an emerging microsystem-based screening method that is increasingly being adopted throughout the field of antibody discovery. This strategy of single B cell cloning by either cell sorting or limiting dilution dramatically overcame many limitations of conventional methods.

The nanofluidic optoelectronic antibody screening technique, the Beacon® platform, integrates individual cell trafficking, imaging, and culturing on a chip smaller than a business card. It enables us to directly screen single antibody-secreting plasma cells against multiple assays within hours of isolation. Additionally, the probability of identifying higher numbers of quality antibody leads against difficult targets is significantly improved with Beacon versus traditional hybridoma.

Functional Advantages

• Perform assays at any time, as often as you need
• Track phenotype and genotype of single cells or clones
• Automate and scale workflows far beyond manual analysis
• Look for different functional parameters on day one

• Extensive experience with Beacon screening strategy design as one of the first CRO adopters of the technology
• CRO/CDMO teams with a fully-integrated infrastructure for antibody discovery and production as well as full service in vitro and in vivo pharmacology and DMPK capabilities
• Collaborative Bay Area partnership with Berkeley Lights (Beacon platform) and our South San Francisco research team
• Established workflows that enable antibody generation from multiple animal species
• Exploring single-cell cloning approach in various applications and therapeutic areas

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