How does Biointron's single B cell screening platform work?

Biointron's platform utilizes microfluidic technology to screen up to 2 million plasma B cells from immunized animals. The process includes isolating plasma B cells, generating single-cell droplets, sorting based on antigen binding, sequencing, and high-throughput expression and validation.

What are the advantages of using microfluidic technology in this process?

Microfluidic-based methods achieve higher throughput and greater flexibility compared to traditional techniques. They allow for efficient handling of small volumes, precise control over experimental conditions, and integration of multiple steps into a single platform, enhancing the efficiency and speed of antibody discovery.

What is the typical timeline for completing a single B cell screening project?

The timeline varies based on project complexity. Biointron's platform can screen millions of cells within one week, and by bypassing conventional hybridoma steps, the process takes ~3 months.

What types of antigens can be targeted using this platform?

Biointron can work with a wide range of antigens, including proteins, complex membrane proteins, peptides, and even small molecules.

How does Biointron ensure the quality and specificity of the discovered antibodies?

Biointron employs multiple validation assays, such as ELISA, SPR, and FACS to confirm the specificity of the antibodies. Additionally, the platform ensures natural pairing of heavy and light chains, which increases specificity.

Can Biointron handle multiple single B cell screening projects at the same time?

Yes, Biointron has dedicated teams for different single B cell screening projects, to ensure timely delivery.

What are the deliverables provided at the end of the project?

Clients receive detailed reports, including sequence information, binding affinity data, functional assay results, and purified antibody samples for further testing.

Do you offer intellectual property rights for antibodies discovered through single B cell screening?

Yes, all intellectual property rights for antibodies discovered under client-specific projects belong to the client.

Single B Cell Screening Services

From immunization to leads in 2–3 months with AbDrop Platform

AbDrop screens up to 2 million plasma B cells from immunized animals using microfluidic droplets to capture secreted antibodies in picoliter chambers. We isolate plasma cells, generate single-cell droplets, sort on antigen binding, and NGS-sequence with unique barcodes to preserve natural heavy/light-chain pairing. Hits are advanced into high-throughput expression and validation (ELISA, SPR, FACS; plus internalization/ADCC when format-appropriate). Provide your own antigen (protein/peptide/cells/small molecule) or have Biointron produce it.

Our antibody discovery services also include:

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Advantages of our Single B Cell Screening Platform

High-Throughput

Compared to other single-cell antibody discovery technologies, Biointron’s platform utilizes microfluidic chips to generate picoliter-scale droplets encapsulating individual cells. After just 1–2 hours of incubation, it enables the detection of antibody secretion from single plasma cells within the droplets, offering significantly higher detection sensitivity
While maintaining cell viability, our platform enables single-round screening of plasma cells at a throughput of up to one million cells

High Diversity

A wide range of species can be used for immunization and sorting, including wild-type mice of various strains (BALB/c, SJL, C57), Cyagen HUGO-Ab™ fully human antibody mice, rats, and rabbits
Experienced with targets including cytokines, single-pass transmembrane proteins, multi-pass transmembrane proteins, viral proteins, and small chemical molecules

Short Timeline

Screen 1 to 2 million plasma cells within ONE day
Obtain naturally paired antibody heavy and light chain sequences from single cells within ONE week
Achieve full antigen–antibody specificity validation within THREE months

Precision, Pairing & Data Integrity

AbDrop is engineered to keep data clean from the first droplet to the final sequence. We design controls and gating strategies around your target biology, stabilize droplet conditions to reduce doublets, and preserve true native VH/VL pairing via cell-level barcoding. Post-NGS, our sequence QC removes low-quality reads and chimeras and clusters clonotypes to highlight unique binders rather than duplicates. Orthogonal assay panels confirm specificity before down-selection, and optional developability/liability reviews help flag sequence liabilities early, so the leads you receive are both biologically relevant and primed for downstream work.

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Built for Collaboration and Scale

Biointron pairs deep single-cell discovery expertise with enterprise-grade execution. A dedicated project manager coordinates milestones, sample logistics, and reporting; you’ll get clear timelines and proactive communication from start to finish. Our ISO 9001:2015–certified operations and 600+-person global team support parallel campaigns without compromising quality, and integrated downstream capabilities (humanization, affinity maturation, developability, and scalable expression) ensure your leads transition smoothly into functional studies and preclinical evaluation.

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Single B Cell Screening Workflow

Mice Immunization

5-10 BALB/c mouse

DNA, Protein, Cells

1-2 months, maintain repertoire diversity

Plasma Cell Enrichment

Isolate plasma B cells from Spleen and Bone Marrow

Single-Cell Droplet Generation and sorting

2E6 plasma B cells are screened

Protein/Cell-based Binding

Single-Cell Sequencing

NGS sequencing

Unique Barcode to make sure the correct pairing

High-Thoughput Expression & Validation

2 weeks for the production

Multiple assays for validation (ELISA, SPR, FACS, Internalization, ADCC, etc.)

Case Study

Case 1: Anti-PD1 Antibody Discovery

Of 62 mAbs expressed, 59 showed good target-binding activity (tested by ELISA).

Of the 59 mAbs, 53 Abs have affinity superior to benchmark antibody (positive control).

Ligand	1:1 binding ka (1/Ms)	kd (1/s)	KD (M)
Ab1	4.26E+05	1.78E-04	4.18E-10
Ab2	4.37E+05	1.86E-04	4.25E-10
Ab3	3.67E+05	1.76E-04	4.80E-10
Ab4	2.27E+05	1.12E-04	4.92E-10
……	……	……	……
Positive control	2.46E+05	1.48E-03	6.01E-09
Ab54	1.90E+05	1.59E-03	8.38E-09
……	……	……	……
Ab59	1.00E+05	2.14E-03	2.14E-08

Diversity analysis indicated excellent CDR protection.

We analyzed the diversity of CDR sequences of the light and heavy chains of 59 Antibodies and showed good diversity.

Epitope binning of all antibodies and found these hits can mainly be divided into 4 epitope groups.

B6924 (Nivolumab biosimilar) and B2014 (Pembrolizumab biosimilar) are positive controls. The result showed that we have identified many antibodies binding to distinct epitopes on PD-1 compared to controls.

Case 2: Anti-TAA Antibody Discovery

Of 70 mAbs expressed, 45 showed good target-binding activity (tested by ELISA).

Six molecules (samples) evaluated in cell-based blocking assay showed better blocking activity than positive control antibody.

No.	IC50	maximum inhibition rate
Sample1	6.62	90.96%
Sample2	5.91	90.14%
Sample3	84.88	87.33%
Sample4	11.18	85.69%
Sample5	32.21	87.77%
Sample6	52.85	80.63%
Positive Control	329.2	/

Explore More Case Studies

Single B Cell Screening FAQs

How does Biointron's single B cell screening platform work?

Biointron's platform utilizes microfluidic technology to screen up to 2 million plasma B cells from immunized animals. The process includes isolating plasma B cells, generating single-cell droplets, sorting based on antigen binding, sequencing, and high-throughput expression and validation.
What are the advantages of using microfluidic technology in this process?

Microfluidic-based methods achieve higher throughput and greater flexibility compared to traditional techniques. They allow for efficient handling of small volumes, precise control over experimental conditions, and integration of multiple steps into a single platform, enhancing the efficiency and speed of antibody discovery.
What is the typical timeline for completing a single B cell screening project?

The timeline varies based on project complexity. Biointron's platform can screen millions of cells within one week, and by bypassing conventional hybridoma steps, the process takes ~3 months.
What types of antigens can be targeted using this platform?

Biointron can work with a wide range of antigens, including proteins, complex membrane proteins, peptides, and even small molecules.
How does Biointron ensure the quality and specificity of the discovered antibodies?

Biointron employs multiple validation assays, such as ELISA, SPR, and FACS to confirm the specificity of the antibodies. Additionally, the platform ensures natural pairing of heavy and light chains, which increases specificity.
Can Biointron handle multiple single B cell screening projects at the same time?

Yes, Biointron has dedicated teams for different single B cell screening projects, to ensure timely delivery.
What are the deliverables provided at the end of the project?

Clients receive detailed reports, including sequence information, binding affinity data, functional assay results, and purified antibody samples for further testing.
Do you offer intellectual property rights for antibodies discovered through single B cell screening?

Yes, all intellectual property rights for antibodies discovered under client-specific projects belong to the client.

AbDrop: Microfluidic-Based Single B Cell
Screening Platform

From immunization to leads in 2–3 months with AbDrop Platform