Cytiva looks to mechanistic modeling in GoSilico deal

Cytiva says the acquisition of scientific software maker GoSilico will boost its position of leadership in the chromatography and process development spaces.

The deal, financials of which have not been divulged, sees vendor Cytiva acquire Germany’s GoSilico, adding a portfolio of scientific software based on mechanistic modeling for use in bioprocessing functions.

“In the simplest of terms, mechanistic modeling uses software to model a process and predict how something is going to respond – think weather forecasting,” Olivier Loeillot, VP BioProcess, Cytiva, told BioProcess Insider.

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“GoSilico’s simulation software is used to build digital twins of downstream processing. Mechanistic Modeling, a form of in-silico process simulation, results in reduced process development timelines, and an increased process understanding.”

He added GoSilico’s ChromX and DSPX software are used by a wide range of biopharmaceutical companies, CDMOs and vendors for a simulation-based development approach to drugmaking.

Thus, for Cytiva the acquisition “puts us in a leadership position in one of our key business areas as our industry undergoes its digital transformation,” he said.

“It is a great example of how our business model is evolving to include more software and service offerings. If you associate this with our capability in resins, it becomes a fantastic tool. This is integrating and speeding up process development. It differentiates us.”

But having GoSilica’s software in its arsenal will also be a boon for end-users and manufacturers, Loeillot said.

“We see a potential in mechanistic modelling of chromatography to further enable improvement in the development and use of chromatography for biotherapeutics and is viewed as the future of process developers according to a survey conducted by Cytiva in 2020.

“When you think about making a drug, you spend the most time in the early phases creating a process. The first step in bioprocessing is process development. It can take up to 18 months to get process development for a mAb done. Everybody would prefer just a few days.”

The bolt-on comes days after Cytiva’s parent company Danaher Corporation acquired Canadian-based technology and solutions firm Precision Nanosystems.