Zylidac Bio and Prolific Machines Partner to Scale Prolific’s Next-Generation Biologics Manufacturing Platform to GMP Production

Neighboring Emeryville companies will scale Prolific’s light-controlled cell line development platform, designed to deliver higher yield, improved control, and enhanced quality for complex biologics, from laboratory development into GMP manufacturing

EMERYVILLE, Calif., October 20, 2026 – Zylidac Bio, a fully integrated biologics CDMO, and Prolific Machines, a biotechnology company advancing biologics development and manufacturing through integrated optogenetics-enabled solutions delivering breakthrough yields, superior on-target quality, and precise process control, today announced a partnership to scale Prolific’s platform from early development through GMP production. Both companies are headquartered in Emeryville in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Prolific’s technology uses light to control protein expression in engineered cell lines, enabling substantial gains in productivity and product quality. The platform combines optogenetics-enabled cell lines, illumination systems compatible with standard bioreactors, AI-driven process optimization, and advanced analytics. The technology is particularly useful for difficult-to-express proteins including multi-specific antibodies, fusion proteins, cytokines and other complex modalities. Prolific has reported a record-breaking productivity milestone of 21 g/L in a 15-day intensified fed-batch CHO run for a monoclonal antibody (mAb) at small scale, along with up to three-fold titer increases for other complex formats.

Under the agreement, Zylidac Bio will first complete a tech transfer of Prolific’s process at 50-liter scale to reproduce Prolific’s results at the Zylidac site. The companies plan to subsequently scale client programs 250 liters, and into GMP manufacturing scale. Prolific’s illumination hardware will work seamlessly with Zylidac’s existing bioreactors, eliminating the need for customers to build new manufacturing infrastructure.

“After demonstrating success at development scale with industry-leading yields across mAbs and difficult-to-express proteins, the next step is scaling the technology to GMP production for clinical and commercial supply,” said Deniz Kent, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Prolific. “We are very pleased to partner with Zylidac, with a proven team and a great new facility in immediate proximity to our labs in Emeryville. Our science and production teams can work on the same program in the same week, and our clients get a manufacturing partner that already knows the technology.”

The partnership gives Prolific’s clients a single route from early development to commercial-scale supply. Programs can begin with cell line development at Prolific and transition a short distance to Zylidac for scale-up, drug substance and drug product manufacturing, fill-finish and packaging.

“Our teams visited each other’s labs early on, and it was clear the capabilities were highly complementary,” said Steve Lavezoli, Chief Commercial Officer of Zylidac. “Prolific focuses on early-stage cell line development work, while we offer the process development, scale-up and GMP capacity required for later stages. We built our Emeryville site to take a molecule from cell line to finished product. We’re excited to be the team that takes this technology to production scale.”

About Zylidac Bio

Zylidac is a fully integrated biologics manufacturer specializing in monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies, fusion proteins and other complex biologics. From its 83,000-square-foot facility in Emeryville, California, Zylidac takes a molecule from cell line development through drug substance and drug product manufacturing, fill-finish, labeling and secondary packaging. Many team members have worked together for more than 30 years, conducting more than 40 cell bank programs and advancing more than 30 molecules into the clinic. Each Zylidac program runs at one site, under one quality system and one master services agreement, with one team responsible from start to finish. Learn more at zylidac.com.

About Prolific Machines

Prolific advances biologics development and manufacturing through optogenetics-enabled cell lines and biomanufacturing solutions. Its platform brings real-time, tunable control of protein expression into standard manufacturing equipment, improving yield, product quality and process control for conventional and complex biologics. The platform is portable across pharma and CDMO facilities and supports programs from early development to scalable, low-COGS manufacturing through flexible service and licensing models. Learn more at prolific-machines.com.

Media Contacts

Zylidac Bio

Steve Lavezoli, Chief Commercial Officer
Email: slavezoli@zylidacbio.com
Phone: 412-360-9185

Prolific Machines

Miles Fisher-Pollard
Orientation Marketing
milesfp@orientation.agency