Chromos ACE System gives Cambridge Antibody Technology commerical manufacture of biologics
Chromos Molecular Systems Inc. has agreed with Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) to develop protein expression lines for commercial manufactures of antibodies and biologics using its ACE System.
CAT, based in Cambridge, UK, will use the ACE System platform to generate cell lines to express monoclonal antibodies for its therapeutic programs, and gains the right to manufacture and market the emerging therapeutic products. Chromos, based in British Columbia, Canada, will receive an upfront payment and annual fees, as well as milestone and royalty payments from resulting products.
As its the first time the ACE System will be used for cellular protein production, Alistair Duncan, president and CEO of Chromos, sees the deal with CAT, a leading biotechnology company with expertise in developing human monoclonal antibody therapeutics, as "significant" and "a vital step towards positioning the ACE System as the industry’s platform of choice for protein production."
Nigel Burns, CAT’s Senior Vice-President of Preclinical Development perceives CAT’s capabilities "will be significantly broadened by access to the Chromos ACE System" for expression of CAT’s human monoclonal antibody therapeutic candidates and will enhance CAT’s ability to "rapidly progress product candidates through development to commercial manufacture."
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 in the industry are not expected to meet future demand for production capacity.
Keywords : Chromos Canada Cambridge Antibody Technology UK ACE System Biologics Commerical manufacture Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies
