Esteban Guerra, Co-Founder Despite all ground-breaking innovations, the basic needs of biotech companies in the veterinary space are not promptly and efficiently addressed. Needless to say, many of these companies are being forced to outsource their R&D&I to better allocate resources for facilitating their product development initiatives.
Serving as a leading biotech company since 2016, Benten Biotech acts as a bridge between biotech innovations and the veterinary industry. Known for its unmatched adaptability, the company identifies the global trends in veterinary vaccine manufacturing space and quickly reacts to them with its innovative, ready-to-use solutions.
“Our ability to proactively build innovative solutions is a testament to our deep understanding of the veterinary vaccine market. This is the strategy that materialized our R&D&I products and services,” says Esteban Guerra, Co-Founder of Benten Biotech.
Benten Biotech’s unique combination of domain expertise and best practices led to the development of single-domain recombinant monoclonal antibodies (VHHs) as a key technology for veterinary applications. The company takes the lead in bringing VHHs to veterinary diagnostics and therapeutics in Latin America. VHHs can be expressed with high yields in prokaryote-based systems, reducing production costs than eukaryotic platforms (CHO/HEK cells). These molecules are small, making them optimal for in vitro engineering, expression, and cloning and diagnostic kits as they require no special storage conditions due to their high stability and heat-resistance. Their short sequence facilitates the introduction of new antigen binding characteristics and labeling, enabling the construction of multivalent molecules and opening-up a bevy of applications.
Leading veterinary companies seeking to incorporate recombinant monoclonal antibodies into their portfolios can leverage Benten Biotech’s expertise in phage display and VHH technologies.
Benten Biotech has developed a series of innovative products and services based on VHH/IVD technology.
The company’s VHH-based ELISA kits for Clostridium chauvoei can be integrated into different stages of vaccine manufacturing— standardization of vaccine formulation, in-process quantification of protective antigen, and quality control of finished product.
In addition to the veterinary space, Benten Biotech is also proving its excellence in human biomedicals, securing contracts in Europe for in-vitro diagnostics (IVD). The company‘s VHH based ZIKA diagnostic kit is capable of differentiating between infections with ZIKA and other flaviviruses in acute and convalescent phases. The company has successfully completed the proof-of-concept phase and is moving to clinical validation of this tool capable of managing future Zika outbreaks.
Benten Biotech’s quest for unknotting various global concerns is unparalleled. The company’s pipeline has VHHs against ten targets, which are undergoing preclinical development and three VHHs in the clinical validation phase. Having this innovative approach enables Benten Biotech to cater to a diverse customer base that encompasses veterinary and human healthcare companies with therapeutics, diagnostics, and molecular imaging needs. For clients seeking cutting-edge biopharmaceutical alternatives to small-molecule drugs in the therapeutics space, the company offers VHH platform that has low off-target effects, predictable mode of action, reduced acquired resistance, lower immunogenicity, and improved shelf-life. Its small size and isoelectric point provide better tissue penetration.
Our ability to proactively build innovative solutions is a testament to our deep understanding of the veterinary vaccine market—a strategy that materialized our R&D&I products and services
Benten Biotech is also sought after by prominent veterinary and human biomedicals companies owing to its flexibility in delivering VHH technology.
a. VHH sequence (digital)
Rather than delivering a physical product, Benten Biotech provides a file containing a series of gene sequences coding for the VHHs against the antigen(s) of interest. Clients can leverage their in-house or third-party expression systems to manufacture the VHHs locally and proceed with further research.
b. CRO model
Benten Biotech takes on more complex projects as a CRO, aiming to deliver a ready-to-use product. Additional research stages involve library screening and selection of the most suitable VHH candidates, tailoring the molecule according to the desired application, engineering or derivatization, and even conducting some non-clinical studies.
c. Partnering
Benten Biotech is actively looking for partners worldwide in order to tackle challenging new projects and co-developing additional products.
None of this would be possible without Guerra’s extensive experience and in-depth expertise in the industry and the expertise of his team. Having worked with several companies since 1996, Guerra takes the lead in the development of biologics, optimization and scrutiny of processes, quality control of vaccines, and development of diagnostics. Because of their knowledge and experience, Benten Biotech has expanded its business and gained client trust.
Moving forward, Benten Biotech is planning to become a key player in VHH Contract Research in the U.S. and Europe. To that end, the company iterates on its proven strategy of staying in touch with market and scientific trends and constantly delivering higher value.
