Next-Generation Affinity Ligands for AAV Purification
Tozaro is developing Smart Polymer™ affinity ligands designed to simplify adeno-associated virus (AAV) purification while reducing the need for serotype-specific purification tools. Using computational design and scalable, cost-effective chemical synthesis, Smart Polymer™ ligands are engineered to target conserved AAV surface epitopes, creating the potential for both pan-serotype and serotype-specific purification solutions.
The goal is to provide flexible, scalable affinity technologies that integrate into existing downstream processing workflows while supporting the growing demands of gene therapy manufacturing.
A New Approach to Pan-Serotype AAV Purification
Current AAV purification strategies often require significant optimization between serotypes, increasing process complexity and development costs. Existing affinity purification methods for AAV can also be expensive.
To address this challenge, Tozaro has computationally designed Smart Polymer™ ligands targeting highly conserved AAV surface epitopes that demonstrate approximately 90% homology across wild-type serotypes.
By targeting these conserved regions, Smart Polymer™ technology aims to provide a single affinity solution capable of supporting multiple AAV programs with reduced customization requirements and improved economics.
Development Progress
- Conserved epitope targets identified with approximately 90% homology across wild-type serotypes
- Successfully evaluated against AAV1, AAV2, AAV5, AAV6 and AAV9
- Additional serotype testing currently underway
- Strong host cell protein and residual DNA clearance demonstrated in early studies
Designed for Integration into
Existing Manufacturing Platforms
Tozaro is actively collaborating with downstream processing partners to integrate AAV Smart Polymer™ ligands onto commercially relevant purification formats, including:
- Membranes
- Monoliths
- Agarose beads
These development programs are focused on creating scalable purification solutions suitable for process development and future GMP manufacturing environments.
Benchmarking Against Existing AAV Affinity Solutions
Tozaro’s lead pan-serotype Smart Polymer™ candidate has been evaluated against established AAV purification ligands, including AAVX.
Early studies in our laboratories have demonstrated comparable or improved binding and elution performance, supporting continued development of Smart Polymer™ technology as a next-generation platform for AAV purification.
Further performance validation across additional serotypes and purification formats is ongoing.
Binding Capacity
Smart Polymer™ vs AAVX
AAV Elution
Smart Polymer™ vs AAVX
Resources
FAQs
Smart Polymer™ ligands are synthetic affinity binders designed to selectively capture adeno-associated virus (AAV) particles during downstream processing. They are being developed as an alternative to traditional purification methods used in AAV purification workflows.
A pan-serotype AAV purification ligand is designed to recognise and bind multiple AAV serotypes rather than a single serotype. This can simplify process development by reducing the need to develop separate purification strategies for each AAV programme.
To date, Tozaro’s pan-serotype Smart Polymer™ ligands have been evaluated against AAV1, AAV2, AAV5, AAV6 and AAV9. Additional serotype testing is currently ongoing as part of the ligand development programme.
Tozaro is currently working with partners to integrate AAV Smart Polymer™ ligands onto commercially relevant purification formats including membranes, monoliths and beads.
The AAV Smart Polymer™ programme is currently in development. Tozaro is actively validating performance across multiple serotypes and working with partners to evaluate deployment formats and manufacturing pathways.
Yes. Tozaro is seeking collaborations with CDMOs, biopharmaceutical companies, technology providers and downstream processing specialists interested in evaluating or integrating Smart Polymer™ technology into AAV manufacturing workflows.