• CHO.SET^® 2.0 library of synthetic promoters provide tuneable expression of transgenes whilst maximising CHO cell productivity
• CHO.SET^® promoters enable higher protein titres, reduced costs and shorter development timelines

Sheffield, UK: SynGenSys, a biotechnology company designing synthetic gene promoter systems to address critical bottlenecks in biopharma manufacturing and enhance cell and gene therapy development, today announced the introduction of CHO.SET^® 2.0. The expanded library of novel and patentable synthetic promoters is designed to improve protein production in CHO (Chinese Hamster Ovary) cells.

The CHO.SET Library^® was first introduced in 2024¹, and has since been expanded and optimised, reflecting SynGenSys’ continued commitment to addressing critical biomanufacturing bottlenecks. Current market vectors rely heavily on natural promoters such as CMV and SV40E, which have restricted transcriptional activity and are therefore insufficient for generating the high productivities required for modern commercial biotechnology applications. Developed de novo using the Company’s proprietary transcriptional analysis and sequence engineering platform, CHO.SET^® synthetic promoters combine advanced computational design with empirical validation to deliver a highly diverse promoter library applicable across a wide range of CHO expression systems and biomanufacturing requirements.

New supporting data demonstrate that CHO.SET^®  promoters outperform standard industry promoters, delivering enhanced transcriptional activity and improved protein production metrics. Selected vectors have been shown to achieve over 4x higher antibody productivity, with titres exceeding 2 g/L in a simple fed-batch flask model. The CHO.SET^® synthetic promoter pools also contain a higher proportion of high-expressing cells, increasing the likelihood of isolating top-performing clones. CHO.SET^® supports more efficient and streamlined cell line development workflows, achieving high titres without the need for MSX, reducing process complexity and enabling faster recovery timelines and route to materials for toxicity studies.

Dr Andrew Racher, Co-CEO, SynGenSys, commented: “CHO cells are the pharmaceutical industry’s gold-standard cell factories, and CHO cell-specific synthetic promoters provide an elegant solution to overcoming key productivity limitations in the industry. We are excited to release this latest update and to continue providing solutions that address evolving biomanufacturing needs.”

The CHO.SET Promoter Library^® will be showcased at BioProcess International this September as part of Biotech Week Boston.

About SynGenSys https://www.syngensys.com/

SynGenSys’ proprietary informatics and computational design platform, backed by deep promoter-design expertise, creates synthetic gene promoters that address protein-expression bottlenecks in biomanufacturing and cell and gene therapy. SynGenSys’ mission is to help developers of next-generation biologic drugs turn their ideas into clinical reality.

For CHO cell-based biopharmaceutical manufacturing, SynGenSys’ market-ready off-the-shelf and customised synthetic CHO.SET^® promoters demonstrate higher productivity per cell across GS-KO CHO platforms than the industry-standard CMV promoter, with potential for shorter timelines to toxicity studies, smaller batch sizes, and lower manufacturing costs.

For cell and gene therapies, SynGenSys combines transcriptional landscape mapping with bespoke promoter design for tuneable, cell- and tissue-type-specific transgene expression with minimal DNA footprint, outperforming natural promoters. SynGenSys also offers synthetic signal peptides that boost translocation for example of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs).

Together, SynGenSys’ synthetic promoters and signal peptides help developers overcome expression challenges across biomanufacturing and cell and gene therapy, supporting the development and manufacture of next-generation medicines.