NewBiologix SA, a technology innovation company focused on addressing gene therapy manufacturing gaps, announced today a licensing agreement with Florabio AS, a global leader specialized in developing cell lines and chemically defined cell culture media,to genetically engineer their proprietary HEK293 cell line for the stable production of recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors used in genetherapy. NewBiologix’s innovative approach stands to replace theindustry-standard transient transfection methods, offering a stable, more reliable, and scalable solution for biopharmaceutical companies developing gene therapies.

Under the terms of the agreement, NewBiologix acquired rights to useFlorabio’s HEK293 suspension cell line for research and commercial applications. Leveraging proprietary genomic data, NewBiologix plans to engineer the FlorabioHEK293 cell line and select highly characterized clones with exceptional growth, expansion, and transfectability properties.

Igor Fisch, Ph.D., NewBiologix CEO andCo-founder, said: “NewBiologix’s founding mission isto help biopharmaceutical companies develop and manufacture cutting-edge gene therapiesthat are safer, more effective and at scale. Our engineered HEK293 cell line will be foundational forus to help our customers deliver population-scale manufacturing to patients inneed by maximizing the production of safer and functional vectors.”

The HEK 293 cell line has been key in advancing gene therapies. Suspension-adapted HEK293 cells are used for commercial AAV production. In a suspension-basedprocess, the cells grow at high cell densities in a serum-free medium, enabling higher volumetric yields. However, developing a serum-free suspension HEK293 platform is challenging primarily due to the current triple transfection methods, which impact scalability, titers, and batch-to-batch variability.

NewBiologix has set itself to meet the demand for gene therapy clinical trials and commercial applications by engineering HEK293 cell lines that will increase productivity at the cellular and volumetric levels while improving batch-to-batch consistency, product purity, and potency.

Cem Erdem, Founder and Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Florabio, said: “We share NewBiologix’smission in helping biopharmaceutical companies produce gene therapies inshorter time and more cost efficient by delivering scalable solutions. NewBiologixwill achieve its goals faster and more efficiently by starting with the ‘FlorabioHEK293’cell line and our chemically defined HEK293 medium.”

Read the press release here