Crucell Licenses STAR(TM) Technology to XOMA for Research Use
(Market Wire) _ Leiden, The Netherlands, January 5, 2006 -
Dutch biotechnology company
Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL) announced today that it has signed a non-exclusive STAR(TM)
research license agreement for the production of monoclonal antibodies and other proteins with
Berkeley, California-based XOMA Ltd. (NASDAQ: XOMA). Financial details were not disclosed.
"XOMA regularly evaluates technologies that can help us stay at the cutting edge of antibody
and recombinant protein technology," said Jack Castello, XOMA's President and CEO. "Crucell's STAR(TM)
technology may complement XOMA's expertise at producing high yields of pure antibodies and other
recombinant proteins because it may improve the productivity of our protein expression systems and
help to identify high-producing clones very efficiently."
"We are very pleased to announce another STAR(TM) technology licensing agreement," added
Crucell's CEO Ronald Brus. "STAR(TM)'s ability to enhance production yields, and its broad
applicability, could potentially see licensing follow a similar growth pattern to that demonstrated by
our PER.C6@ technology."
About STAR(TM) Technology
STAR(TM) technology is a production technology that is particularly useful for the production
of recombinant human antibodies and proteins. It has a potentially broad application and is effective
for production of antibodies and proteins on mammalian cell lines such as Crucell's PER.C6@ human cell
technology and the widely used Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line. STAR(TM) technology contains
genetic elements, called STAR(TM) elements, that enable stable and high-yield gene expression
important to recombinant antibody and protein production in mammalian cells. The technology has the
potential to increase production yields, thereby reducing production costs. STAR(TM) technology was
discovered by Dr. Arie Otte (Nature Biotechnology 2003 May, 21 (5)) who founded Chromagenics B.V., a
spin-off company of the University of Amsterdam acquired by Crucell in March 2004.
About Crucell
Crucell N.V. is a biotechnology company focused on developing vaccines and antibodies that
prevent and treat infectious diseases, including Ebola, influenza, malaria, West Nile virus and
rabies. The company's development programs include collaborations with: sanofi pasteur for influenza
vaccines; the U.S. National Institutes of Health for Ebola and malaria vaccines; and GlaxoSmithKline
(GSK), Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and New York University for a malaria vaccine. Crucell's
products are based on its PER.C6@ production technology. The company also licenses its PER.C6@
technology to the biopharmaceutical industry. Licensees and partners include DSM Biologics, GSK,
Centocor and Merck & Co., Inc. Crucell is headquartered in Leiden, The Netherlands, and is listed on
the Euronext and NASDAQ stock exchanges (ticker symbol CRXL). For more information, please visit
(http://www.crucell.com) crucell.com.
About XOMA
XOMA is a pioneer and leader in the discovery, development and manufacture of therapeutic
antibodies, with a therapeutic focus that includes cancer and immune diseases. XOMA has a royalty
interest in RAPTIVA@ (efalizumab), a monoclonal antibody product marketed worldwide (by Genentech,
Inc. and Serono, SA) to treat moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. XOMA's discovery and development
capabilities include antibody phage display, bacterial cell expression, and Human Engineering(TM)
technologies, plus a fully integrated drug development infrastructure. The company pipeline also
includes proprietary programs in preclinical and clinical development. For more information please
visit XOMA's website at (http://www.xoma.com/) xoma.com. |
