CEVEC Licenses CAP(R) Technologies For The Development And Commercialization Of Vaccines Against Zika Virus Infections
Agreement marks an important step in establishing CAP(R) technologies as the new global industrial standard for viral vector and vaccine development
Cologne, Germany, February 09, 2017 - CEVEC Pharmaceuticals GmbH (CEVEC), the expert in the production of tailor-made recombinant glycoproteins and gene therapy vectors, today announced that it has signed an exclusive license agreement with NewLink Genetics (NASDAQ:NLNK) for use of its proprietary CAP(R)GT and CAP(R)Go cell lines in the development and commercialization of products for the treatment and prophylaxis of Zika virus infections.
Under the terms of the agreement, CEVEC will grant NewLink Genetics and its affiliates the rights to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize CAP(R)GT and/or CAP(R)Go derived Zika vaccine candidates. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
"NewLink is an important player with significant experience in developing immuno-oncology product candidates and vaccines in infectious diseases with several products in clinical development. The joint agreement is a strong endorsement of our CAP(R) system and represents another important step towards establishing CEVEC's technologies as the new global industry standard for viral vector and vaccine development," commented Frank Ubags, CEO of CEVEC. "Outstanding yields, scalability, excellent documentation and regulatory status, including a referenceable U.S. FDA Biologics Master File increasingly convince the biopharmaceutical industry to embark on the CAP(R) technologies. We're proud and excited to see our technologies significantly contributing to the development of a steadily growing number of innovative gene therapy and vaccine applications including a vaccine solution that will address the threat of Zika virus disease."
About Zika:
Often causing no or only mild symptoms, similar to a very mild form of dengue fever in adults, the infection known as Zika fever or Zika virus disease can spread from a pregnant woman to her fetus. This can result in microcephaly, brain malformations, and other severe fetal birth defects. As of 2016, the illness cannot be prevented by medications or vaccines. Zika is spread by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes and can also be transmitted from men and women to their sexual partners.
About CEVEC:
CEVEC is a center of expertise for the production of biopharmaceuticals using a unique human cell-based expression system.
CAP(R)GT is a regulatory endorsed expression platform for scalable viral vector production. CEVEC has successfully developed CAP(R)GT suspension cell-derived viral packaging and producer cell lines which enable better scale-up and competitive production costs when compared to adherent cell culture systems. CAP(R)GT suspension cell lines grow to high cell densities and show a broad viral propagation spectrum. Gene therapy vectors such as lentivirus (LV), adenovirus (AV) and adeno-associated virus (AAV) can be produced at industrial scale.
CAP(R)Go enables the production of proteins previously out of reach representing a significant proportion of the human proteome that is notoriously difficult to express in conventional cell lines such as CHO. The CAP(R)Go expression platform comprises a portfolio of glyco-optimized human suspension cell lines for the highly efficient production of a broad range of difficult to express recombinant proteins with authentic human post-translational modifications or on demand tailor made glycosylation patterns.
Cologne, Germany, February 09, 2017 - CEVEC Pharmaceuticals GmbH (CEVEC), the expert in the production of tailor-made recombinant glycoproteins and gene therapy vectors, today announced that it has signed an exclusive license agreement with NewLink Genetics (NASDAQ:NLNK) for use of its proprietary CAP(R)GT and CAP(R)Go cell lines in the development and commercialization of products for the treatment and prophylaxis of Zika virus infections.
Under the terms of the agreement, CEVEC will grant NewLink Genetics and its affiliates the rights to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize CAP(R)GT and/or CAP(R)Go derived Zika vaccine candidates. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
"NewLink is an important player with significant experience in developing immuno-oncology product candidates and vaccines in infectious diseases with several products in clinical development. The joint agreement is a strong endorsement of our CAP(R) system and represents another important step towards establishing CEVEC's technologies as the new global industry standard for viral vector and vaccine development," commented Frank Ubags, CEO of CEVEC. "Outstanding yields, scalability, excellent documentation and regulatory status, including a referenceable U.S. FDA Biologics Master File increasingly convince the biopharmaceutical industry to embark on the CAP(R) technologies. We're proud and excited to see our technologies significantly contributing to the development of a steadily growing number of innovative gene therapy and vaccine applications including a vaccine solution that will address the threat of Zika virus disease."
About Zika:
Often causing no or only mild symptoms, similar to a very mild form of dengue fever in adults, the infection known as Zika fever or Zika virus disease can spread from a pregnant woman to her fetus. This can result in microcephaly, brain malformations, and other severe fetal birth defects. As of 2016, the illness cannot be prevented by medications or vaccines. Zika is spread by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes and can also be transmitted from men and women to their sexual partners.
About CEVEC:
CEVEC is a center of expertise for the production of biopharmaceuticals using a unique human cell-based expression system.
CAP(R)GT is a regulatory endorsed expression platform for scalable viral vector production. CEVEC has successfully developed CAP(R)GT suspension cell-derived viral packaging and producer cell lines which enable better scale-up and competitive production costs when compared to adherent cell culture systems. CAP(R)GT suspension cell lines grow to high cell densities and show a broad viral propagation spectrum. Gene therapy vectors such as lentivirus (LV), adenovirus (AV) and adeno-associated virus (AAV) can be produced at industrial scale.
CAP(R)Go enables the production of proteins previously out of reach representing a significant proportion of the human proteome that is notoriously difficult to express in conventional cell lines such as CHO. The CAP(R)Go expression platform comprises a portfolio of glyco-optimized human suspension cell lines for the highly efficient production of a broad range of difficult to express recombinant proteins with authentic human post-translational modifications or on demand tailor made glycosylation patterns.