Intellectual Property and CPOs

One of the advantages of outsourcing production to a contract production organization (CPO) is the potential for reaping the benefits of their proprietary processes for enhanced expression of cloned genes. Many CPOs have patented technologies for high-efficiency expression or enhanced downstream processing of cloned proteins and other bioproducts. Of course, ideally, paying to use someone else’s IP for enhanced expression or purification systems will save you money IF the improved yield is high enough to more than cover the costs. If not, you’re better off sticking to your own expression systems and avoiding the added expense.