Incubator Program Helps Accelerate
Superparamagnetic Silica Innovation
Q&A With Reno Nguyen, Principal Scientist, Grace, about our participation in the Cell & Gene Therapy Incubator Program
Advancing next generation bioprocessing requires more than breakthrough ideas—it requires strategic partnerships that can validate, scale, and accelerate those ideas into real-world impact. That’s why Grace’s acceptance into the second cohort of Charles River Laboratories’ (CRL) Cell & Gene Therapy Incubator Program marks a major milestone as we advance our superparamagnetic silica technology for plasmid DNA purification.
We sat down with Reno Nguyen, Principal Scientist at Grace to discuss why this was the right step for Grace and our customers, what it means for the fast-growing cell and gene therapy market, and how our game-changing technology is poised to advance the market.
Q: First, tell us about Grace’s magnetic silica technology and how it differs from traditional plasmid purification methods?
Reno: Our innovations in chromatography and purification go back many decades—we developed a line of superparamagnetic silica products back in the 1990s and secured our first patent in 2001. This latest iteration is a new application of our technology, which focuses on the purification of plasmid DNA, or pDNA, which is a critical starting material for cell and gene therapies.
The current methods used for purification of pDNA can be cumbersome and expensive. Our magnetic silica beads can potentially replace one or more column-based purification steps, reducing equipment costs and eliminating the time-consuming packing process. In addition, our patented technology boasts:
- Faster processing cycles, with no column pressure issues and rapid separation via magnetic response.
- Strong nucleic acid binding with minimal iron leaching, thanks to our proprietary silica coating.
- More efficient operations, since our beads are designed for single use—avoiding cleaning validation, regeneration steps, and regulatory complications.
- Potential for improved plasmid yield compared with conventional chromatographic approaches.
Altogether, this positions our technology as a potential gamechanger for cell and gene therapy CDMOs and biopharma companies using plasmid DNA (pDNA) purification.
Q: Why was this incubator program the next logical step to advance the technology?
Reno: Our internal R&D teams have spent quite some time demonstrating the benefits of our superparamagnetic technology in the labs, and now we’re ready to validate it on a larger scale that reflects the complexity of a real-world environment. To understand how our magnetic particles behave beyond the bench, we needed access to a different type of scale, equipment, and resources. The Cell & Gene Therapy Incubator Program (CIP) at Charles River emerged as an ideal option because it provides a focused environment to fast-track our proof of concept and expedite the development of life-changing therapies for patients in need.
Q: What benefits will Grace realize from the incubator program?
Reno: This program offers more than just a lab space for us – it provides us with structured scientific, regulatory, and operational support, as well as direct access to scientific and commercial expertise. Charles River Laboratories (CRL) conducts over 1,000 cell and gene therapy studies annually and has integrated facilities around the world that support the entire manufacturing lifecycle. Combining our long history of silica innovations with CRL’s expertise and capabilities in the cell and gene therapy space can help amplify our ability to bring this technology to market successfully.
Q: What benefits could customers expect once the technology is fully validated at scale?
Reno: If our scaleup results reflect what we’ve seen at the lab scale, customers—especially cell and gene therapy CDMOs—could experience:
- Lower manufacturing costs through reduced equipment and maintenance needs
- Shorter production timelines
- Higher yields and purity
- Simplified workflows, reducing specialized training requirements
- A more efficient pDNA purification process, characterized by magnetic particles with high binding capacity, low iron leaching, and the ability to isolate primarily the supercoiled isoform
Ultimately, this could help lower the cost of plasmid DNA manufacturing, which is critical for making advanced therapies more accessible to patients.
Q: What’s next for our superparamagnetic silica technology?
Reno: Innovation is an ongoing journey, and this incubator program helps us move faster and make smarter, data driven decisions about scaleup, commercialization pathways, and future applications. Here at Grace, we’re proud of our long history of looking ahead to address today’s needs and solve tomorrow’s challenges. We remain focused on delivering solutions that make advanced cell and gene therapies more accessible, scalable, and efficient. Stay tuned as we continue to expand the potential of our superparamagnetic silica technology to deliver life-saving solutions to patients.