MEDFORD, Mass. — Sunflower Therapeutics has announced an exclusive sales representation agreement with Optimal Biotech Group, expanding access to its flagship Daisy Petal™ perfusion fermentation system across the western United States and British Columbia. The partnership marks Sunflower’s first commercial representation in North America and signals a key step in its strategy to transform global protein manufacturing.
Through the new agreement, customers in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia will be able to purchase the Daisy Petal™ system, a single-use, in-vessel perfusion fermentation platform designed to improve volumetric productivity and simplify biomanufacturing processes. Optimal Biotech Group, based in one of the world’s leading biotech hubs, will serve as Sunflower’s authorized sales partner across the region.
“The commercial launch of the Daisy Petal™ marks an exciting milestone for Sunflower Therapeutics,” said Dave Bianchi, Director of Commercial Operations at Sunflower. “We’re proud to bring our innovative protein manufacturing solutions to the U.S. market and partner with Optimal Biotech Group as we extend the reach of our technologies and deliver new capabilities to biomanufacturers across the West Coast Region.”
The Daisy Petal™ system uses a disposable stirred tank reactor equipped with a novel in-vessel perfusion device. This design allows for continuous biomass feeding, fluid harvesting, and cell retention — all within a single controlled bioreactor environment. The result is significantly higher space-time yields, up to five to ten times greater than conventional fed-batch methods used for producing a range of proteins.
Phil Charnas, Vice President of Business Development at Optimal Biotech Group, praised the collaboration as a breakthrough in process efficiency. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with Sunflower Therapeutics on their groundbreaking in-vessel perfusion technology,” he said. “This approach provides biomanufacturers with a powerful tool for improving yield and streamlining production.”
Complementing the Daisy Petal™ hardware is Sunflower’s GMP-compliant software suite, which includes HelianthOS™, Nursery™, and Harvest™. These digital tools offer walkaway automation, user-friendly recipe development without coding, and secure data storage, creating a cohesive system that enhances ease of use and operational efficiency throughout the manufacturing campaign.
With this agreement, Sunflower Therapeutics is making significant strides toward its mission of democratizing access to advanced biomanufacturing technologies and enabling more scalable, sustainable protein production for applications in therapeutics, research, and beyond.
