Cell-free Synthesis of Transfection-grade Plasmid DNA for Automated Processing

Daiichi Sankyo, a global pharmaceutical company, is seeking a fully cell‑free, in vitro technology capable of synthesizing and amplifying plasmid DNA without relying on E. coli. 

Approaches of Interest:

• Recombination Assembly Methods
  • Methods that can reproduce a highly efficient homologous recombination system of microorganisms in vitro, resulting in seamless DNA ligation 
  • Methods that can correctly assemble and integrate 50 or more DNA fragments at once via a timely (less than 30 minute) isothermal reaction
• Replication Cycle Reaction Methods
  • Able to mimic the E. coli genome replication system in vitro using a reconstituted set of proteins for amplification
  • Amplification of a single circular DNA molecule in a time-effective manner
  • Enables amplification of long circular DNA molecules exceeding 10 kb in vitro
  • Can achieve high application accuracy, exceeding that of traditional PCR

Out of Scope:

• Replication systems in E. coli
• Technologies costing over ten times more than conventional E. coli culture methods
• Technologies requiring dedicated equipment with initial investments exceeding 100 million yen
• Methods taking over one week per plasmid to generate
• Opportunities relating to minicircle DNA or mRNA

Developmental Stages of Interest:

• Daiichi Sankyo is seeking basic research accompanied by experimental verification
• Methods must be established

Submission Information

Submission of one-page, 200–300-word briefs is encouraged, along with any optional supplementary information e.g. relevant publications. In submitting to this campaign, you confirm that your submission contains only non-confidential information.

Opportunity for Collaboration

Our client is open to a range of collaboration opportunities, with the most appropriate outcome being decided on a case-by-case basis. Example outcomes include licensing assets, project/PhD funding, and research collaborations.