Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:LIFE) today announced that it has finalized cell line license agreements with a number of companies to provide rights to Life Technologies' proprietary CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cell lines for the production of recombinant proteins used as therapeutic agents and vaccines.
“The program is a stellar example of one of the creative ways in which the company plans to provide broader access to the company's intellectual property, including patents, biological materials, trademarks and trade-secrets, which are designed to lead to revolutionary developments in drug and vaccine manufacture to ultimately improve healthcare.”
New licensees include Advanced BioScience Laboratories, Inc., CNA Development L.L.C., Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corporation and DiNonA Inc. of Korea, RecipharmCobra Biologics, Ltd. of the United Kingdom, evitria SA of Switzerland, Fusion Antibodies of Northern Ireland, Indian Immunologicals Limited of Hyderabad, India and others. Commercial use rights have additionally been offered to many of the hundreds of institutions already using Life Technologies' proprietary cell lines for research and development.
These licenses are part of a new program established by Life Technologies to provide access to intellectual property rights for the production of recombinant proteins, focusing on the rapidly growing market segments of bioproduction, therapeutics, diagnostics, veterinary medicine and vaccines. The new program is part of the company's new out-licensing strategy, which additionally includes providing a greater breadth of the company's best-in-class product and technology portfolio through this channel, creating more complete, customized solutions for OEM and other commercial use customers.
CHO lines are the gold standard for therapeutic protein production with a well-characterized safety profile, and attractive cellular mechanisms that convey good drug quality. Life Technologies' CHO lines are optimized for growth in suspension in the company's chemically defined GIBCO® media, permitting protein manufacturers to obtain good yields while reducing serum-associated risks. They have also been shown to be free of standard pathogens, making them well suited for therapeutic manufacturing.
Detailed cell line history documentation packages that are suitable for submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as part of Investigational New Drug filings are provided to licensees, eliminating the need for expensive preliminary testing, aiding the acceleration of drug development and product launch.
"This new global licensing program is part of a larger strategy to monetize our rich intellectual property, technology and product portfolio," said Paul Grossman, PhD, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development at Life Technologies. "The program is a stellar example of one of the creative ways in which the company plans to provide broader access to the company's intellectual property, including patents, biological materials, trademarks and trade-secrets, which are designed to lead to revolutionary developments in drug and vaccine manufacture to ultimately improve healthcare."
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