SARTORIUS BIA SEPARATIONS (BIA) and EXOPHARM LTD testing the synergy of Exopharm's patented LEAP technology together with BIA's unique CIM (Convective Interaction Media) monolith chromatography for improved large- scale exosome production and commercialization. Together BIA and Exopharm recognise the demand for a large-scale high-efficiency purification technology to enable purified exosomes to solve the drug-delivery problems facing the use of mRNA as therapeutic products. The monolithic columns are potentially an ideal carrier for Exopharm's LEAP ligands that
gently `pull out' exosomes from the input material. CIM monoliths enable high throughput, high capacity, outstanding resolution and would offer high stability along with controlled exposure of the bioprocess material to the LEAP ligands ­ potentially a synergistic & powerful combination for exosome purification. Discussions between BIA and Exopharm have arrived at a Material Transfer Agreement and associated collaborative program. Over the next few months BIA and Exopharm will test the addition of LEAP ligand chemistry to the existing BIA CIM monolithic columns. The expectation is that the addition of LEAP ligands to the CIM will improve specificity and purity of the purified exosome product over BIA CIM ion exchange columns. BIA will also test different immobilisation densities of the LEAP ligands to seek an optimal density for high throughput industrial use.