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Shimadzu Corporation has begun a collaboration with Axio BioPharma Inc. (Axio), a biotechnology company based in Wisconsin, USA, to optimize cell culture media using artificial intelligence (AI). The collaboration combines Shimadzu’s CellTune Ver. 2 cell culture optimization support software and Media Blending Kit with Axio’s antibody expression and evaluation technologies, with the aim of optimizing cell culture media used in biopharmaceutical development.

In recent years, the global market for biopharmaceuticals, including antibody therapeutics and cell and gene therapy (CGT) products, has continued to expand. In the cell culture processes used to manufacture biopharmaceuticals, the selection and formulation of culture media have a significant impact on productivity, quality, and cost. Culture media contain numerous components, including amino acids, vitamins, and inorganic salts, resulting in an enormous number of possible combinations. As media development has traditionally relied heavily on researchers’ experience, optimizing media formulations remains an important challenge.

Shimadzu’s CellTune Ver. 2 is software that uses AI to propose optimal conditions, including media formulations and culture environments, based on experimental data. The Media Blending Kit enables the rapid preparation of the media formulations proposed by the software. Axio is a U.S.-based biotechnology company that supports biopharmaceutical development through its experimental platform for evaluating antibody expression and validating culture conditions. In this joint validation project, culture conditions proposed using Shimadzu’s technologies will be tested and evaluated at Axio’s laboratory. The results will then be fed back into the design of subsequent conditions to validate a data-driven, iterative optimization process.

Through this validation project with Axio, Shimadzu will evaluate the practical applicability of the media optimization workflow and further enhance its solutions for supporting biopharmaceutical research and development and manufacturing process development. Shimadzu will continue collaborating with partners in Japan and overseas to improve the efficiency of biopharmaceutical development and contribute to the growth of the biopharmaceutical industry, particularly in the North American market.