SAC platform · Strain engineering · Process development
SAC platform — from microbial resources to manufacturing.
One platform, four modules. The Synbio Agile Commercialization (SAC) platform links the Cutis Microbe Bank, KeySS key starting strains, the CutisBiofoundry and MtoM process development, so that an original strain becomes a patentable process and a material a partner can manufacture.
SAC platform
Four modules, one commercialization loop.
Synbio Agile Commercialization: securing original patents and establishing biomanufacturing processes through four connected modules.
- 01
Cutis Microbe Bank
Microbial resources isolated from healthy human skin and healthy environments, banked with ownership and commercial rights secured for the materials developed from them.
- 02
KeySS
Key starting strains that produce key starting materials, providing a foundation for developing related molecules and their production strains.
- 03
CutisBiofoundry
Robotic design–build–test–learn: large libraries of gene variants evaluated at high speed to relieve the bottleneck enzyme, secure new patents and raise productivity.
- 04
MtoM
Microbe to Manufacture: laboratory process development, pilot validation and a documented hand-off to manufacturing partners.
The translation problem
A promising molecule is not yet a manufacturable product.
A strain that performs in a flask can behave differently once the vessel, the feeding strategy and the timescale change. Byproducts that were tolerable at small scale become a purification burden, and a productivity that looked attractive may sit on a pathway that starves the cell of what it needs to grow.
Most of the risk in bringing a biological material to market lives in this hand-over between biology and process. Our platform is organised around it: strain decisions are made with the process in view, and what the process reveals is fed back into how the strain is engineered.
Integrated flow
One flow, from target to supply.
Each stage exists to retire a specific kind of risk before the next one begins.
Defining the target and its pathway establishes feasibility. KeySS reduces the risk that the biology will not perform; MtoM reduces the risk that the process will not hold. Application validation, transfer and supply close the loop with the partner.
How a programme runs
A development path with clear decision points.
Every programme moves through the same sequence. The criteria for passing each gate are agreed with the partner at the start, so that scale-up is a decision rather than a hope.
- 01DefineTarget, application, performance needs, and the host and route strategy.
- 02BuildStrain construction, pathway assembly and the first screening rounds.
- 03ValidatePerformance, identity and quality attributes confirmed at laboratory scale.
- 04ScaleFermentation and recovery developed as the programme progresses through its engineering and pilot stages.
- 05TransferA documented, repeatable process handed to manufacturing and application.
Capabilities
What the platform covers.
Category-level capabilities that run across programmes. Programme-specific data is shared with qualified partners under NDA.
- 01
Host and strain engineering
Selecting and engineering microbial hosts suited to the target and to the intended process.
- 02
Pathway and flux optimisation
Designing biosynthetic routes and balancing metabolic flux towards the product.
- 03
Robotic high-throughput screening
Comparing large libraries of variants in parallel on the biofoundry to select leads on the criteria that matter.
- 04
Fermentation development
Cultivation strategy, control and characterisation, developed from laboratory scale onward.
- 05
Downstream and purification development
Harvest, separation, purification and formulation designed for recovery and end use.
- 06
Analytical and quality methods
Identity, purity and functional methods defined alongside the process, not after it.
- 07
Scale-up and technology transfer
Stage-gated progression and documentation that a manufacturing partner can run from.
- 08
Application validation with partners
Testing the material in the partner’s application and workflow before commercial commitment.
From platform to application
Explore the materials, products and services.
See the purpose and research context of each application. Product-specific specifications and development discussions are available through an inquiry.
Partner with CutisBio
Discuss a target molecule or material
Tell us the molecule or material, the application and the performance you need. We will come back with a view on feasibility, the platform route we would take and how to start.