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12/12/2007
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| BioWa and Lonza enter into strategic collaboration to generate optimized production platform for more potent antibodies |
BioWa, Inc. and Lonza announced today that they have signed a strategic research collaboration agreement to combine BioWa’s POTELLIGENT® technology with Lonza’s GS Gene Expression SystemTM and CHOK1SV cell line. This is expected to generate a new technology platform to produce more potent antibodies with greatly enhanced antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) in a high-yield mammalian expression system for industry-wide use. Under the terms of the agreement, the parties intend to make the new POTELLIGENT® CHOK1SV cell line available for licensing and it will be offered as part of Lonza’s development services in combination with Lonza’s GS Gene Expression SystemTM. Details of financial terms were not disclosed.
“This collaboration with Lonza, one of the leading providers of antibody production services, will enable us to jointly offer a superior production platform to parties interested in the development of efficacy-enhanced antibody therapeutics. Lonza will be an important partner for BioWa to strengthen the production system of biological drugs”, said Dr. Masamichi Koike, BioWa’s President and CEO. “We believe that combining both parties’ technologies addresses a clear market need to improve production yields and can significantly aid the development of more effective targeted treatments for cancer and other life-threatening and debilitating diseases.”
“We are glad to bring together our well established GS Gene Expression SystemTM with the innovative POTELLIGENT® technology of BioWa, thus being able to offer our customers a technology that results in more potent antibodies”, added Dr. Stephan Kutzer, Head of the Biopharmaceuticals Business Sector of Lonza.
The two companies will jointly market the new technology platform.
About GS Gene Expression SystemTM
The GS (glutamine synthetase) Gene Expression System, which is owned and licensed by Lonza, is used for the production of therapeutic recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies. Over 80 biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and over 70 academic laboratories worldwide have successfully used the GS Gene Expression System, which has established itself as an industry standard. This system is characterized by its speed and ease of use. In addition, these higher-yielding cell lines provide cost-efficient production of therapeutic proteins.
About POTELLIGENT® Technology
ADCC activity is an important function of the human immune system, whereby immune cells can kill target cells, e.g. cancer cells. Several anti-cancer therapeutic antibodies that are on the market today have ADCC activity as one of their mechanisms for the killing of tumor cells. Enhancement of this activity is one promising approach in the next generation of antibody technologies.
POTELLIGENT® technology involves the reduction of the amount of fucose in the carbohydrate structure of an antibody using a proprietary fucosyltransferase-knockout CHO cell line as a production cell. Research shows that POTELLIGENT® technology significantly enhances ADCC activity of an antibody in vitro, thereby increasing the potential for improved activity in vivo.
About Lonza
Lonza is one of the world's leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries. Its products and services span its customers’ needs from research to final product manufacture. Lonza is the global leader in the production and support of active pharmaceutical ingredients both chemically as well as biotechnologically. Biopharmaceuticals are one of the key growth drivers of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Lonza has strong capabilities in large and small molecules, peptides, amino acids and niche bioproducts which play an important role in the development of novel medicines and healthcare products. Lonza is a leader in cell-based research, endotoxin detection and cell therapy manufacturing. Lonza is also a leading provider of value chemical and biotech ingredients to the nutrition, hygiene, preservation, agro and personal care markets.
Lonza is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland and is listed on the SWX Swiss Exchange. In 2006, Lonza had sales of CHF 2.91 billion. Further information can be found at www.lonza.com.
About BioWa, Inc.
BioWa is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd., Japan’s leading pharmaceutical and largest biotech company, and is the exclusive worldwide licensor of POTELLIGENT® technology, which creates high ADCC monoclonal antibodies. Currently, BioWa is developing ADCC enhanced monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics to fight cancer and other life-threatening and debilitating diseases and both BioWa and Kyowa have POTELLIGENT® antibody products in various clinical stages. BioWa creates and develops enhanced ADCC antibodies for itself and others, offering a full range of antibody discovery and development capabilities. For more information about BioWa, visit its web site at www.biowa.com.
POTELLIGENT® is the registered trademark of Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd. All rights are reserved.
Contacts:
BioWa, Inc.
Masamichi Koike, Ph.D.
President and CEO
Phone: +1-609-734-3420, x3422
Lonza
Head Corporate Communications
Janet White
Tel +41 61 316 8566
Fax +41 61 316 9566
janet.white@lonza.com
Media Relations
Dominik Werner
Tel +41 61 316 8798
Fax +41 61 316 9798
dominik.werner@lonza.com
Investor Relations
Alexandre Pasini
Tel +41 61 316 8835
Fax +41 61 316 9835
alexandre.pasini@lonza.com
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