Ingenza debuts Bacillus protein production system alternative to E. coli

Published: 14-Jan-2026

The Scottish CRDMO's new GenXpress Bacillus technology offers a highly productive alternative to the traditional E. coli expression systems that is free from endotoxins and antibiotic resistance markers

Ingenza, an engineering biology CRDMO based in Edinburgh, Scotland, has developed GenXpress Bacillus, a powerful orthogonal protein production system.

With performance comparable to the best E. coli expression systems, the new technology offers Ingenza customers a highly productive alternative that is free from endotoxins and antibiotic resistance markers.

GenXpress Bacillus has applications across diverse industries, ranging from pharmaceuticals to industrial processes and can be used to produce virtually any protein, improving yields while reducing costs and regulatory hurdles.

Bacillus species secrete proteins significantly better than E. coli, allowing higher yields and increasing the ease of recovery of expressed proteins.

Ingenza has combined its existing innovations in Bacillus subtilis – including its codABLE gene design algorithm and BINGO protease-free platform – with its extensive experience in efficient gene integration and strain construction across numerous hosts to develop this new system that achieves chromosomal-driven productivity exceeding that of plasmid-driven performance.

Rita Cruz, Head of Strain and Cell Line Development, explained: "The system is highly productive, antibiotic resistance marker-free, endotoxin-free and has GRAS status, which are all advantages over E. coli-based expression systems."

"It is compatible with very low cost induction and culture strategies and is great at secreting proteins – it’s a versatile powerhouse for biomanufacturing."

Ingenza has used the system successfully in a number of high-value programmes, collaborating with world-leading organisations to generate vaccine components, industrial enzymes and prebiotics.

Ian Fotheringham, President and Founder, added: "GenXpress Bacillus represents the next generation of protein production systems."

"With this new technology, Ingenza is not only able to design the gene optimally but express the product at the highest level: we know of no other orthogonal systems in Bacillus as powerful."

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