# Linking antibody sequences to function at the single-cell level using nanovial technology

> **NIH NIH R44** · PARTILLION BIOSCIENCE CORPORATION · 2023 · $767,559

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Monoclonal antibody therapies now account for the majority of blockbuster drugs and the number and breadth
of diseases tackled by this therapeutic modality are expected to rapidly grow in the coming decade. However,
existing discovery technologies force users to choose between performance and cost. There is a need for
advanced discovery tools that provide a better functional picture of performance during initial high-throughput
screening. An ideal solution that can democratize antibody discovery would also be easily accessible, leveraging
existing equipment in pharmaceutical, biotech, and research laboratories. Partillion is developing and
commercializing a specialized hydrogel microparticle reagent (“nanovials”) that enables ultra high-throughput
sorting of single antibody secreting cells based on functional properties of secreted antibodies, all using standard
lab equipment and widely-available flow cytometers. Expanding on Phase I work and successful demonstration
of antibody discovery from plasma cells based on antigen-specific binding, in this Phase II proposal Partillion will
develop nanovial workflows to enable single-cell functional assays (binding of secreted antibodies to cell-surface
expressed targets and receptors that triggers signaling pathway activation) for our end users. These capabilities
can provide dramatic improvements in discovery workflows by minimizing the number of non-functional
sequences that have to be synthesized, introduced into cell lines, produced, and tested in large well-plate formats
downstream. Here we propose to develop on-nanovial functional screening assays for (i) binding to cell-surface-
expressed targets and (ii) receptor agonism, and benchmark the antibody sequences discovered with these
approaches against sequences recovered using standard hybridoma, and direct B cell Receptor (BCR) antigen
baiting workflows. Enabling more companies and institutes to access cutting-edge drug discovery capabilities
economically will also drive further development of therapeutic candidates for rare diseases and more crowded
“common diseases”, which ultimately will yield cost savings to the health systems and better outcomes for more
patients.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10697372
- **Project number:** 2R44GM144000-02
- **Recipient organization:** PARTILLION BIOSCIENCE CORPORATION
- **Principal Investigator:** Joseph de Rutte
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $767,559
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2021-09-16 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10697372

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10697372, Linking antibody sequences to function at the single-cell level using nanovial technology (2R44GM144000-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10697372. Licensed CC0.

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