Chromos announces ACE System deal with Cambridge Antibody Technology for the commercial manufacture of biologics
BURNABY, BC, May 14 /CNW/ - Chromos Molecular Systems Inc. ("Chromos"; TSX: CHR) announced today that it has entered into a non-exclusive license agreement with Cambridge Antibody Technology ("CAT"; LSE: CAT; NASDAQ: CATG) of Cambridge, UK to develop protein expressing cell lines for the commercial manufacture of antibodies and biologics using Chromos' ACE System.
Under the terms of the agreement, CAT will use the ACE System platform to generate cell lines expressing monoclonal antibodies in the context of its therapeutic programs, and will have the right to manufacture and market the emerging therapeutic products. Chromos will receive an upfront payment and annual maintenance fees, as well as milestone and royalty payments from resulting products. Further financial details were not disclosed.
"This is our first license agreement using our ACE System for cellular protein production," said Chromos president and CEO Alistair Duncan. "This agreement is significant to Chromos because CAT is recognized as a leading biotechnology company with expertise in developing human monoclonal antibody therapeutics. Additionally, this deal validates the growing interest in the market for selecting the ACE System as a robust and powerful tool to generate high expressing cell lines with improved speed and protein yields. This deal is a vital step towards positioning the ACE System as the industry's platform of choice for protein production."
"CAT's capabilities will be significantly broadened by access to Chromos' ACE System which will enable the expression of our human monoclonal antibody therapeutic candidates," said Nigel Burns, CAT's Senior Vice-President of Preclinical Development. "The combination of our proprietary phage display technology for obtaining and isolating human monoclonal antibodies, linked to Chromos' protein expression platform will enhance our ability to rapidly progress product candidates through development to commercial manufacture."
According to industry experts, the market for monoclonal antibodies is expected to grow by 30% per year and will exceed US $20 billion by 2010. Current antibody production platforms used in the industry are not expected to meet future demand for production capacity.
About Cambridge Antibody Technology ("CAT")
CAT is a UK-based biotechnology company using its proprietary technologies and capabilities in human monoclonal antibodies for drug discovery and drug development. CAT is a leader in the discovery and development of human therapeutic antibodies and has an advanced proprietary platform technology for rapidly isolating human monoclonal antibodies using phage display systems. CAT has extensive phage antibody libraries, currently incorporating more than 100 billion distinct antibodies. These libraries form the basis for the Company's strategy to develop a portfolio of antibody-based drugs. Humira(TM) is the leading CAT-derived antibody, isolated and optimized by CAT in collaboration with Abbott. Six other CAT-derived human therapeutic antibodies are at various stages of clinical development.
About Chromos
Chromos Molecular Systems Inc. is a public, Canadian biotechnology company leading the development of innovative therapies using a proprietary gene delivery and expression system for the production of therapeutic proteins and cell-mediated gene therapies. Chromos is achieving this objective with a unique mammalian chromosome technology platform from which multiple product candidates can be developed. Chromos' technology, referred to as the ACE System (artificial chromosome expression), is a unique and powerful vehicle for carrying genes into cells. It offers competitive advantages over current systems in that it permits the rapid and efficient insertion of selected genes, allows for the long term and stable expression of large, single or multiple proteins, and provides a means to selectively and predictably control protein expression.
Company Web Site: chromos.com... |
