Case Study: a well-established public biopharma achieves rapid discovery of functional FM1-targeting antibodies with Twist Bioscience

Well-established Public Biopharma delivers 62 FM1-specific binders in 2.5 months with Twist Bioscience

The customer, a well-established public biopharma, faced the challenge of discovering therapeutic antibodies against a highly specific cell surface receptor (FM1) without off-target binding to its conserved family members. Previous discovery attempts using hybridomas had yielded only six candidates, with just one meeting the critical requirements for both specificity and functional ligand blocking activity. This limited success, coupled with a tight timeline, necessitated a new approach. They partnered with Twist Bioscience and its Beacon-based single B cell workflow to achieve broader antibody diversity and a more efficient, function-forward screening process.

Twist Bioscience implemented a de novo discovery workflow utilizing their Beacon platform to screen over 21,000 single B cells. The solution employed three sequential assays to simultaneously screen for specificity, off-target binding, and functional blocking activity. This approach successfully identified 276 specific, blocking hits directly on the Beacon instrument. The results were significant: Twist Bioscience delivered 62 validated, FM1-specific binders and 51 confirmed ligand-blocking antibodies with diverse sequences and affinities down to the nanomolar range, all within a accelerated timeline of just 2.5 months.