Porton Advanced Announces a Strategic Partnership with BioMap, with AI Models Facilitating AAV Gene Therapy Development

SUZHOU, China, Nov. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 8, 2023, Porton Advanced announced the establishment of a strategic partnership with BioMap. BioMap will leverage Porton Advanced's unique Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) vector technology platform and research data to develop AAV assembly efficiency models and an assembly distribution model. The goal is to harness the power of large-scale life science models, accelerating the design of AAV vectors, and expanding the application of AI models in the field of gene therapy.

Over the past decade, the development of gene therapies based on AAV vectors has significantly propelled a new round of biotechnology revolution. Despite many great achievements in research on the construction and assembly of AAV vectors, the creation of tissue-specific AAV coat proteins, a key step towards unlocking their therapeutic potential, remains a longstanding challenge. However, the limitations of natural serotype AAVs in satisfying clinical needs have stimulated scientists' interest in fostering innovative AAV development through AI technology, especially AI models.

"We are extremely optimistic about the future development of gene therapies and feel honored to work with Porton Advanced to jointly establish an artificially designed gene delivery system to help more partners," Vicky Qu, Senior Vice President of BioMap, expressed, "BioMap's large pre-trained foundation model, xTrimo, can quickly generate the best-performing task models across various fields based on our partners' diversified data. Meanwhile, Porton Advanced's high-quality AAV vector technology platform and research data will significantly improve our model performance, enabling innovative design of high-performing AAV vectors."

Dr. Yangzhou Wang, CEO of Porton Advanced, commented, "We are very excited to cooperate with BioMap to provide better solutions for gene therapy research by using AI models. While Porton Advanced has a well-established CDMO platform, we also established proprietary technical platforms, such as a new-type library of AAV capsid variants AAVantage®, as well as other gene-editing tools. Based on BioMap's cutting-edge AI and biological technology, the two companies will build large-scale life science models and expedite the integration of scalable experimental platforms and intelligent big data analysis platforms to satisfy the diversified needs ranging from R&D to production. We will also work together to accelerate the drug R&D to maximize the industrialization value."

With the increasing data in the gene delivery vector field and the emergence of large protein language models, it is believed that AI will assume a key role in gene delivery vector research in the foreseeable future and serve as a driver for innovation and significant advancements in human health throughout this new era.

About BioMap

Founded in 2020 by Robin Li and Wei Liu, BioMap is a disruptive life science AI company responsible for building xTrimo, the first and largest protein-centric large language model platform. Their technology allows scientists to model life more accurately, from proteins to a system level, and extract novel insights and predictions from limited data. Supported by an international, cross-functional team of over 300 experts, BioMap is solving critical, protein-related drug development problems and charting a course to radically improve patients' lives. For more information about BioMap, please visit: www.biomap.com.

About Porton Advanced

Porton Advanced is a subsidiary of the globally recognized CDMO Porton Pharma Solutions Ltd. (SZSE Stock Code 300363), founded in 2018. Located in Suzhou, China, Porton Advanced offers a cGMP-compliant manufacturing platform for plasmids, cell therapy, gene therapy, oncolytic virus, mRNA therapy, and bacterial therapy, enabling different development stages for global companies.

Porton Advanced operates on a "Customer First" approach to Gene and Cell Therapeutics (GCT) manufacturing, anchored by its core principles of "Compliance, Expertise, and Open Collaboration". The company operates to rigorous, internationally harmonized Quality Management and IP protection standards, bringing innovative manufacturing solutions to the complex challenges in the GCT space. For more information about Porton Advanced, please visit: www.portonadvanced.com.