Kemp Proteins Establishes a Strategic Partnership with NeuImmune to Implement the geCHO Technology to Advance Precision Protein Production

Glycoengineered CHO technology expands Kemp's ability to control protein development, characterization, and production

FREDERICK, Md., Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Kemp Proteins, LLC is expanding its cell line development and recombinant protein production capabilities through a strategic partnership with NeuImmune and its proprietary glycoengineered CHO (geCHO) BioDesign platform, bringing greater control over protein glycosylation to Kemp's gene-to-protein development workflow.

Precision Glycoengineering for Complex Proteins
Glycosylation, the attachment of sugar structures to proteins, is a critical post-translational modification that can significantly influence protein efficacy, activity, stability, formulation, half-life, safety, immunogenicity, and other characteristics important to biologic development. Yet conventional recombinant protein expression frequently produces heterogeneous glycoforms that are largely determined by the production cell, making it difficult to systematically evaluate how alternative glycosylation patterns affect protein performance.

NeuImmune's geCHO BioDesign platform was developed to address this challenge by combining a panel of 28 geCHO cell lines built from a GMP-ready CHO-S parental cell line. The cells have been genome-edited and phenotype-confirmed to provide a broad range of N-glycan structures, including high-mannose, mono-, bi-, tri-, and tetra-antennary, fucosylated, afucosylated, as well as different sialylation profiles. Resulting protein variants can then be evaluated for attributes such as activity, stability, and half-life to help identify glycoforms associated with the required function and performance.

The platform also incorporates GlyCompare, part of NeuImmune's explanatory AI and systems-biology framework, which decomposes glycoprofiles into shared glycan substructures and uses those features to help identify the glycan characteristics associated with specific phenotypic responses. This approach allows glycosylation data to be considered alongside preclinical performance data rather than treating glycosylation as an isolated analytical measurement.

"The geCHO platform provides greater control over glycosylation and its impact on protein performance, including structure, stability, function, and antigen recognition. It gives us an opportunity to engineer glycans as part of the protein development process rather than treating it as a variable of production," said Dr. Carter Mitchell, Chief Scientific Officer at Kemp Proteins.

The technology is particularly relevant to complex glycoproteins, including viral antigens, antibodies, and other biologics in which glycosylation can influence protein structure, stability, function, immune recognition, and therapeutic performance.

Supporting U.S. Health Security and Domestic Biomanufacturing. The importance of greater control over complex protein production extends beyond recombinant protein development, particularly for biologics targeting high-consequence pathogens. NeuImmune, with Kemp Protein's cell line development team, is applying its proprietary geCHO BioDesign platform to infectious-disease programs, including the development of monoclonal antibodies targeting filoviruses, such as Ebola and Sudan virus.

"Ebola is a clear example of why greater control over the production of complex proteins matters," said Mike Keefe, CEO of Kemp Proteins. "For vaccines, therapeutics, and health security applications, understanding how a protein is produced, and being able to consistently reproduce it, is critical. Technologies like geCHO give us greater control over those variables and, ultimately, over the quality and performance of the proteins we deliver."

NeuImmune's work was awarded through the Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Preparedness Consortium (BioMaP-Consortium), overseen by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and managed by Advanced Technology International (ATI), with federal funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), and BARDA.

The effort reflects the growing importance of domestic biomanufacturing capabilities and the ability to produce well-characterized biological materials for medical countermeasures against high-consequence pathogens. BARDA has supported the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and other countermeasures for filoviruses while continuing to invest in technologies that strengthen U.S. preparedness for emerging biological threats.

"With our proprietary geCHO BioDesign platform and our deep expertise in precision engineering of biologics with distinct glycosylation signatures, we look forward to advancing novel antibodies to treat these devastating viral infections," said Thomas Fuerst, Founder and Chairman of NeuImmune. "This work is foundational to addressing this national security need."

About NeuImmune, Inc
NeuImmune, Inc. is an early-stage biotechnology company focused on precision glycoengineered biologics for orphan diseases and infectious disease. Founded by scientists from the University of Maryland, University of Georgia, and the Technical University of Denmark, NeuImmune is developing technologies designed to generate more uniform, human-like glycoforms of therapeutic proteins and vaccine antigens. Its proprietary geCHO BioDesign platform combines glycoengineered CHO cell lines with computational approaches to identify and produce defined glycoforms for therapeutic proteins and vaccine antigens. The platform is being applied to the development of biologics for infectious diseases, including monoclonal antibodies targeting filoviruses such as Ebola and Sudan virus. 

About Kemp Proteins, LLC
Based in Frederick, MD, Kemp Proteins, LLC is a premier provider of gene-to-protein solutions, helping researchers and biotechnology innovators overcome complex protein development challenges. For more than 30 years, Kemp has provided expertise in recombinant protein expression, protein engineering, stable cell line development, purification, analytical characterization, and process optimization. Kemp supports the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines, and next-generation biologics, helping clients accelerate development timelines and improve reproducibility from discovery through scalable production. The implementation of glycoengineered CHO technology further expands Kemp's ability to provide integrated, precision-oriented protein development and production solutions.

SOURCE Kemp Proteins