Rapid. Precise. Beyond the Cell.

At Mika Biologics, we believe the next revolution in biologics will not come from cells, but from what remains when cells are stripped down to their most powerful engines: ribosomes, polymerases, and cofactors. This is the world of cell-free biologics—where transcription–translation (TX–TL) extracts transform biology into an open, programmable system.

Cell-free systems allow for on-demand protein synthesis, vaccine prototyping within days, and enzyme discovery at scale without the constraints of living organisms. While most CDMOs still treat cell-free extracts as an experimental curiosity, Mika Biologics makes them a core service line, integrating decades of microbial fermentation expertise with cutting-edge TX–TL workflows.

Whether you are a biotech startup designing next-generation immunotherapies, a synthetic biology innovator building enzyme libraries, or a global health organization racing against an outbreak, our cell-free platform delivers speed, precision, and scalability unmatched by conventional systems.

What Are Cell-Free Biologics?

Traditional biologics production relies on living cells—E. coli, yeast, CHO—to transcribe and translate DNA into functional proteins. But living cells are messy ecosystems: regulatory pathways compete, membranes block access, and growth conditions dictate yield.

Cell-free systems take a different approach:

• Cell Lysis → We disrupt microbial hosts such as E. coli, releasing ribosomes, tRNAs, polymerases, cofactors, and metabolic enzymes.
• Extract Preparation → These crude or refined extracts are optimized to maintain transcription–translation activity outside the cell.
• Open Reaction Systems → DNA templates and energy sources are added directly into the extract, driving protein synthesis without cellular interference.

This creates an open biological factory: a programmable reaction chamber where genetic templates produce proteins in hours instead of days or weeks.

Key advantages:

• Speed – Rapid prototyping of proteins and vaccines within days.
• Flexibility – Direct addition of DNA/RNA templates without cloning.
• Control – Tunable cofactors, chaperones, and conditions.
• Scalability – From microliter assays to GMP-grade production.

Why Cell-Free Biologics Matter

The biologics industry is under pressure: faster timelines, rare disease markets, pandemic preparedness, and synthetic biology’s appetite for rapid iteration. Traditional microbial and mammalian systems often cannot keep up.

Cell-free systems change the equation:

1. Faster Therapies – Imagine synthesizing a vaccine antigen against a novel pathogen within 48 hours of sequencing its genome.
2. Cheaper Development – By eliminating cell growth steps, early prototyping is faster and less resource-intensive.
3. Hard Proteins Made Possible – Toxic proteins that kill host cells can be expressed cell-free.
4. High-Throughput Enzyme Discovery – Parallel synthesis of hundreds of enzyme variants in miniaturized cell-free reactions.
5. On-Demand Manufacturing – Portable biomanufacturing units can synthesize biologics where and when needed (field hospitals, remote clinics, space missions).

At Mika Biologics, we treat cell-free as not just a niche, but a paradigm shift—one we are uniquely positioned to scale.

Our Cell-Free Biologics Services

We offer a comprehensive suite of cell-free services, designed to meet clients wherever they are in development.

1. Custom TX–TL Extracts

Our foundation is extract preparation. We engineer microbial hosts—most often E. coli, but also yeast and fungi—to maximize ribosome density, metabolic energy regeneration, and stability.

• E. coli Extracts – High-yield ribosome preparations optimized for protein synthesis.
• Tunable Energy Systems – PEP, creatine phosphate, maltose, or novel energy regeneration tailored to project needs.
• Chaperone Enrichment – Extracts supplemented with folding chaperones for complex proteins.
• Template Flexibility – Plasmid DNA, linear DNA, or mRNA inputs.

Every extract is customized for your application—whether that’s soluble cytokines, membrane proteins, or enzyme libraries.

2. Vaccine Prototyping Platforms

Cell-free systems shine brightest in immunogen discovery and vaccine prototyping.

• Rapid Antigen Synthesis – Express candidate antigens in days post-sequence.
• Scalable VLP Production – Assemble virus-like particles (VLPs) cell-free for immunogenic scaffolds.
• Outbreak Response – Pandemic-ready platforms that can pivot to new targets instantly.
• Analytical Validation – ELISA, flow cytometry, and structural assays to confirm immunogenicity.

Mika has supported programs in infectious disease, oncology vaccines, and nanoparticle vaccine scaffolds.

3. Enzyme Discovery & Engineering

Synthetic biology depends on enzymes: polymerases, nucleases, ligases, CRISPR proteins. Our cell-free systems enable parallel enzyme discovery at scale.

• High-Throughput Screening – Parallel synthesis of hundreds of enzyme variants.
• Directed Evolution Pipelines – Combine mutagenesis with cell-free synthesis for iterative improvement.
• CRISPR Proteins – Cas9, Cas12, Cas13 production with tunable conditions.
• Diagnostics Supply Chains – Enzymes for qPCR, NGS, and point-of-care tests.

Our proprietary refolding and activity validation workflows ensure enzymes don’t just express—they function at clinical grade.

4. Therapeutic Protein Prototyping

Cytokines, checkpoint ligands, and immune proteins often suffer from poor solubility or toxicity in cells. Cell-free bypasses these limits.

• Cytokine Libraries – IL-2, IL-7, GM-CSF, interferons synthesized cell-free for rapid activity testing.
• Checkpoint Proteins – PD-L1, CTLA-4 ligands produced without host cell burden.
• Folding Solutions – Proprietary refolding chemistries integrated into cell-free reactions.

This accelerates early discovery, helping clients test dozens of immune biologics before committing to large-scale fermentation.

5. On-Demand & Distributed Biomanufacturing

The holy grail of cell-free is biomanufacturing anywhere, anytime. Mika is actively building platforms for:

• Portable Biomanufacturing Units – Freeze-dried extracts activated by adding water and DNA.
• Field Deployment – Biologics produced at the point of care, reducing cold chain burden.
• Space Biomanufacturing – Exploration-driven programs for off-Earth biologics production.

We see this as the future—and we are helping clients design regulatory-ready versions of these visionary platforms.

Why Choose Mika for Cell-Free Biologics?

Most CDMOs treat cell-free as a side project. At Mika, it’s a pillar of our identity.

1. Microbial Mastery → Extract Excellence

Our deep microbial fermentation expertise (E. coli, yeast, fungi) means we generate ribosome-rich extracts with reproducibility and yield others cannot match.

2. Proprietary Refolding Workflows

We’ve built in-house refolding chemistries, folding chaperones, and activity validation that make complex cytokines and enzymes clinically relevant.

3. GMP-Ready Scale

From microliter assays to 2000 L fermentors feeding extract production, we can scale cell-free from research to clinical.

4. Regulatory & Quality Depth

Our facilities are ISO-aligned, FDA-registered, EU-compliant—rare for cell-free CDMOs. We support IND/CTA filings with full documentation.

5. Visionary Edge

We don’t just provide services—we help clients design the future of biomanufacturing: distributed, rapid, cell-free therapies.

Technical Infrastructure

Mika Biologics operates facilities specifically optimized for cell-free workflows:

• Fermentation – High-density microbial fermentation for extract production.
• Cell Disruption – Proprietary homogenization and lysis for ribosome preservation.
• Extract Prep – Clarification, nuclease treatment, buffer optimization.
• Reaction Assembly – High-throughput liquid handling for 96- to 1536-well formats.
• Analytics – qPCR, HPLC/UHPLC, ELISA, bioassays, structural validation.
• Quality – Electronic batch records, PAT integration, audit readiness.

Client Applications & Case Examples

We serve clients across biotech, pharma, global health, and synthetic biology. Examples include:

• Biotech Startup – A preclinical immunotherapy company used Mika’s cell-free platform to screen 40 cytokine variants in 2 weeks, de-risking its lead candidate.
• Global Health NGO – Partnered with Mika for rapid antigen prototyping during an outbreak, generating candidate proteins within 72 hours.
• Synthetic Biology Innovator – Used our enzyme discovery platform to generate novel CRISPR proteins, now forming the backbone of their diagnostics pipeline.
• Rare Disease Foundation – Leveraged cell-free prototyping to test therapeutic enzymes too toxic for cellular expression.

The Future of Cell-Free at Mika

We envision a world where biologics are printed like software: DNA in, protein out, anywhere on the planet. Our roadmap includes:

• AI-Driven Extract Optimization – Machine learning models predicting yield and activity.
• Expanded Host Extracts – Beyond E. coli, into fungal, algal, and synthetic chassis.
• Integration with Nanoparticles – Cell-free assembly of biologic nanoparticles for delivery.
• Global Partnerships – Aligning with health organizations to create distributed cell-free networks.

Mika Biologics is not just a CDMO—we are an architect of the cell-free future.

Closing Statement

Cell-free biologics are no longer an academic curiosity. They are the next frontier in immune innovation, vaccine agility, enzyme discovery, and distributed biomanufacturing.

At Mika Biologics, we have chosen to lead in this space. By merging microbial fermentation mastery with cell-free extract engineering, we offer clients something rare: a CDMO that doesn’t just make biologics, but redefines how biologics are made.

Mika Biologics. Microbial Systems. Immune Innovation. Beyond the Cell.

Contact our sales team at info@mikabiologics.com