Cell-free protein synthesis: advances on production process for biopharmaceuticals and immunobiological products

Biopharmaceutical products are of great importance in the treatment or prevention of many diseases and represent a growing share of the global pharmaceutical market. The usual technology for protein synthesis (cell-based expression) faces certain obstacles, especially with 'difficult-to-express' proteins. Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) can overcome the main bottlenecks of cell-based expression. This review aims to present recent advances in the production process of biologic products by CFPS. First, key aspects of CFPS systems are summarized. A description of several biologic products that have been successfully produced using the CFPS system is provided. Finally, the CFPS system's ability to scale up and scale down, its main limitations and its application for biologics production are discussed.