Today, Great Bay Bio (GBB) announced the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement with Taron Solutions Limited (Taron), a leading biotechnology service provider based in Hong Kong. The two companies will establish a long-term, forward-looking partnership integrating GBB’s multiple AI-driven innovation platforms with Taron’s process development and biotherapeutic commercialization capabilities. Through deep collaboration in key areas—including cell line development, protein purification, process scale-up, and technology transfer. This partnership marks another milestone for GBB in Hong Kong, as multiple parties join forces to foster a more vibrant biotech innovation ecosystem in the region—collectively providing global biopharmaceutical companies with comprehensive, end-to-end solutions spanning from drug discovery to preclinical development.
As the world’s first commercialized site-specific integration cell line development platform, AlfaCell combines the advantages of being “double fast” and high yield. It can generate the RCB in just 1.5 months—compared with 6 months traditionally—and predict product quality within 1 month, transforming conventional process development decisions and accelerating CMC timelines. AlfaCell also achieves breakthrough expression levels—up to 15 g/L for mAbs, 12 g/L for BsAbs, and 13 g/L for nanobodies—making it ideal for next-generation biotherapeutics such as BsAbs, multispecific antibodies, fusion proteins, and ADCs.
Building on the AlfaCell platform, GBB has developed the Alfaexpress transient expression kit, which produces 300–700 mg/L of protein by day 7 in CHO-K1 cells, overcoming the low-yield limitations of conventional CHO-S or 293 cell transient expression systems. It also allows seamless transition from transient to stable expression within the same cell line, minimizing efficacy gaps between early research and CMC development.
With extensive experience in early preclinical development, Taron operates its own facilities in Hong Kong and provides comprehensive, end-to-end services spanning cell line development, protein purification, process development, and more. Built on a strong foundation in biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing, Taron has expanded its business presence globally.
Through this collaboration, GBB and Taron will leverage the industry-leading AlfaCell platform, Alfaexpress kit, and related supporting technologies within Taron’s state-of-the-art facilities to provide technical services ranging from cell line development and research cell bank establishment to protein purification, quality control, and process development.
Our collaboration aligns with the Hong Kong government’s vision to advance biotech innovation. By combining GBB’s technological expertise with Taron’s operational excellence and market insight, the partnership accelerates biopharmaceutical innovation and reinforces Hong Kong as a regional biotech hub. Together, we are building an efficient platform that bridges laboratory discoveries to market applications, fostering a vibrant industry–academia ecosystem and driving sustainable growth in the local and regional biotechnology sector.
About Taron
Taron is a rising global CDMO based in Hong Kong. Beyond our infrastructure, including a 5,000 sq ft pre-clinical facility in Hong Kong and a planned cGMP facility expansion in North America, it's our people that distinguish us. Our team brings deep commercial and CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls) expertise, backed by decades of real-world drug commercialization experience. We follow a "right-the-first-time" approach, leveraging our team's clinical-stage insights to ensure your drug development is phase-appropriate with the data needed to advance toward clinical readiness. Through our internal development platform and rapid process scale-up capabilities, we take the pain out of CMC readiness
