Wellcome Centre for Cell-Matrix Research is funding a nanobody screening project leveraging Carterra’s platform

The University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and Carterra, Inc., the world leader in innovative technologies enabling high-throughput biology, announce that the University of Manchester has added Carterra’s LSA instrument to its Biomolecular Analysis Core Facility (BACF) within the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH).

The BACF was created in 2005 to facilitate the characterization of biomolecules and their molecular interactions. The facility, which comprises a suite of biophysical instruments, supports University research through access to its resident technologies, project-specific advice, sample analysis, instrument training, as well as data interpretation and reporting. The BACF also supports research at other higher education institutions in the UK as well as in the pharmaceutical industry.

“Our job in the BACF is to provide our university’s scientists with the world’s best and most advanced technologies for molecular interaction analysis—we have certainly fulfilled our remit by adding Carterra’s LSA to our stable of technologies,” says Tony Day, a Professor of Biochemistry within FBMH and Academic Lead for the BACF. 

The Wellcome Trust, through the University’s Wellcome Centre for Cell-Matrix Research, is funding a project to generate nanobodies—antibodies with a single variable domain, also known as VHH antibodies. The aim of this project is to assemble an immunoassay toolbox for the study of matrix biology including the analysis of tissues from fibrotic diseases that will help underpin the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic targets.

The high-throughput capabilities of Carterra’s LSA, measuring hundreds of binding events in parallel and providing high-resolution epitope binning, will remove a bottleneck in the nanobody production process allowing experiments that would previously take many days to be performed in just a few hours. The LSA will allow university researchers to cast a wider net and screen more nanobodies per target, thereby increasing the likelihood of identifying the ideal hit. “We can’t wait to use the LSA for our development and characterization of nanobodies for which Carterra’s instrument is perfectly suited,” commented Dr. Tom Jowitt, the Manager of the BACF.

Carterra launched the LSA antibody discovery and characterization platform in 2018 and has quickly made it the standard in 17 of the 20 largest pharmaceutical companies, biotechs, CROs, and government labs.  The speed at which antibodies can now be identified and characterized as potential drugs by Carterra’s LSA has improved on traditional methods by generating results 100 times faster while using 99% less sample. Sensitivity for finding the rarest of antibodies in a complex matrix is also now best-in-class.

Other highlights from Carterra’s success with the LSA platform include the following:

• The LSA was a primary tool used by Eli Lilly and AbCellera in the discovery of bamlanivimab, the world’s first COVID-19 therapeutic and fastest biologic ever to reach clinical trials- https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/scitranslmed.abf1906.
• The Gates-funded global COVID-19 Immunotherapy Consortium (CoVIC) used the LSA to help identify the most potent antibody drug candidates from all over the world: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abh2315.
• In December of 2020, Carterra closed an equity round of financing from industry giant, PerkinElmer who is also now the exclusive distributor of the LSA platform in the Asia-Pacific and Oceania regions.

“It’s incredibly gratifying to see how Carterra’s LSA has penetrated both industry and academia as the world’s new standard in antibody discovery,” says Tim Germann, Chief Commercial Officer at Carterra.  “To join the University of Manchester in support of their world-class research is both an honor and a privilege for everyone at Carterra.”

About Carterra, Inc.

Carterra® is privately held and is the leading provider of high throughput technologies designed to accelerate and improve the discovery of novel therapeutic candidates. Carterra’s LSA® instrument, software, and consumables for monoclonal antibody (mAb) characterization deliver up to 100 times the throughput of existing platforms in 10% of the time while using only 1% of the sample required by other systems. The LSA combines patented microfluidics technology with real-time high throughput Surface Plasmon Resonance (HT-SPR) and industry-leading data analysis and visualization software to revolutionize mAb screening. Carterra, Inc. is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has Customer Experience Centers in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Boston, and Munich, Germany.  Carterra products are available in Asia-Pacific and Oceania through our exclusive distributor, PerkinElmer.

For additional information, please visit www.carterra-bio.com.

About the University of Manchester’s Faculty of Biology, Medicine, and Health

The University of Manchester’s Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health has an integrated structure that enables us to deliver a truly translational approach to the life sciences. This helps ensure smooth research pathways - from pure discovery science through to clinical application and patient care. We develop and deliver the highest quality education and training for health professionals and life scientists in partnership with the NHS and industry. We contribute to the University's tradition of innovation and improvements in the health of people around the world. We also conduct outstanding, world-leading research in the biological, medical, and health sciences across eight research themes. We take our social responsibility to make a contribution to the 'greater good' seriously.