RoukenBio, formerly Antibody Analytics, are an immunology CRO specialising in cell therapies and R&D services. The company was founded in 2015, launched its immunology services in 2018 and then their R&D department in 2019. In 2020, Rouken established their engineering services with their IndEx-2 platform, which Lynne Dunsford discussed in this presentation.
The CRO works on various therapeutics, including monoclonal antibodies, bispecifics, and cell therapies, and has expanded its offerings to nanoparticles and peptides. They have access to fresh blood and disease state tissue samples from the human tissue bank, have engineered hundreds of cell lines, and recallable donors.
Dunsford said that the key challenge of developing tumour-targeting therapies lies in identifying optimal tumour antigens. Target antigens are often not cancer specific and are in fact expressed on healthy tissues too. This can lead to immune evasion, antigen escape, and off target toxicities.
The traditional method for assessing antigen density is to perform functional assays on a panel of cancer cell lines with similar or varied genetic backgrounds. But variation in cell line backgrounds can muddy the vision of what is being assessed. That’s why RoukenBio developed their IndEx-2 platform: an inducible cell line platform which allows for highly sensitive and titratable expression of antigens in cell lines, facilitating better assessment of therapeutic targets.
Then Dunsford discussed RoukenBio’s single cell interaction cytometry technology. Their instrument, the heliXcyto, provides real-time binding kinetics, improving upon traditional methods like SPR and flow cytometry by analysing cells in their natural state. The tool uses nanocages to trap up to eight non-immobilised, non-adhered, individual cells on a single chip for analysis.
Data from experiments using the IndEx-2 platform and heliXcyto demonstrate the correlation between receptor density and therapeutic efficacy, impacting signal strength and engagement. RoukenBio now aims to enhance its capabilities in antigen targeting and therapeutic assessments, addressing logistical and cost challenges in the process.
