Zylidac Bio, a fully integrated biologics CDMO within the Zydus Lifesciences (Zydus) group, and Prolific Machines, a biotechnology company advancing biologics development and manufacturing through integrated optogenetics-enabled solutions delivering breakthrough yields, superior on-target quality, and precise process control, today announced a partnership to scale Prolific's platform from early development through GMP production. Both companies are headquartered in Emeryville in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Prolific's technology uses light to control protein expression in engineered cell lines, enabling substantial gains in productivity and product quality. The platform combines optogenetics enabled cell lines, illumination systems compatible with standard bioreactors, AI-driven process optimization, and advanced analytics. The technology is particularly useful for difficult-to express proteins including multi-specific antibodies, fusion proteins, cytokines and other complex modalities. Prolific has reported a record-breaking productivity milestone of 21 g/L in a 15-day intensified fed-batch CHO run for a monoclonal antibody (mAb) at small scale, along with up to three-fold titer increases for other complex formats.

Under the agreement, Zylidac Bio will first complete a tech transfer of Prolific's process at 50 liter scale to reproduce Prolific's results at the Zylidac site. The companies plan to subsequently scale client programs 250 liters, and into GMP manufacturing scale. Prolific's illumination hardware will work seamlessly with Zylidac's existing bioreactors, eliminating the need for customers to build new manufacturing infrastructure.

The partnership creates an end-to-end development and manufacturing pathway for Prolific's clients, spanning early development through commercial-scale supply. Programs can start with cell line development at Prolific and move seamlessly a short distance to Zylidac for scale-up, drug substance and drug product manufacturing, fill-finish, and packaging.