Cobra BioManufacturing Deal With Scancell Holdings

Keele, UK: Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc (AIM: CBF), the international manufacturer of biopharmaceuticals, today announces that it has signed an agreement with Scancell Holdings Plc, the parent company of Scancell Limited (‘Scancell’), the developer of therapeutic cancer vaccines based on its patented ImmunoBody™ platform, for Good Manufacturing Practice (‘GMP’) manufacture of its SCIB1 DNA vaccine. Scancell plan to commence clinical trials of SCIB1 in the UK in Q1 2010.

Scancell is developing SCIB1, a DNA vaccine for the potential treatment of late-stage melanoma cancer patients. There are 8000 new cases of melanoma every year in the UK with 1,800 deaths per year. Early stage melanoma is often cured by surgery but advanced disease has a very poor prognosis with late stage (stage IV) disease having a median survival of approximately 6 months. SCIB1 was developed using Scancell’s ImmunoBody™ technology and is engineered to express the TRP-2 and gp100 cytotoxic T-cell epitopes from tumour antigens. In animal models, SCIB1 prevented the development of lung metastases and significantly inhibited the growth of established tumours.

David Evans, Chairman of Scancell, commented:

“We are delighted to sign a deal with Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc to manufacture our SCIB1 DNA vaccine. That we are commencing GMP manufacture of SCIB1 on schedule is testament to the progress the company continues to achieve.”

Simon Saxby, Chief Executive of Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc said:

“We are very pleased to have been selected by Scancell as a result of Cobra’s abilities and reputation as a leading cGMP compliant manufacturer of DNA. This agreement also underscores Cobra’s long term commitment to the manufacture of therapeutic vaccines.”

About Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc:

Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc is a leading international manufacturer of biopharmaceuticals to the lifescience industry. Founded in 1992, Cobra provides innovative manufacturing solutions to the biopharmaceutical industry covering DNA, virus, cellular therapeutics and recombinant protein products.

Cobra has developed a range of unique, patented technologies, which underpin a revenue generating contract manufacturing business.

www.cobrabio.com

Back to news