PITTSBORO, N.C., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Biolex Therapeutics, a venture backed, clinical stage protein therapeutics company, today announced that it doubled manufacturing capacity at its Pittsboro, NC facility. With the expansion, the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-certified preclinical and clinical production space exceeds 13,000 square feet. In anticipation of this expansion, Biolex has increased its workforce by 100 percent over the past nine months and currently has 90 employees based in North Carolina.
“With this new capacity Biolex has significantly increased its manufacturing capability, providing us the resources to support our partners and our product pipeline with development and scale-up of product for clinical trials,” said Jan Turek, Chief Executive Officer of Biolex. “In anticipation of our next stage of growth, we are also seeking up to 50,000 square feet of new space to accommodate additional GMP production of clinical and commercial-stage therapeutics,” he added.
“During this buildout we benefited from substantial economic and time efficiencies that the LEX System(TM) offers. This expansion is a testament to the dramatic difference in construction time, capital and operating costs required to produce therapeutic proteins with the LEX System compared to traditional mammalian cell systems,” said Mr. Turek.
Biolex will use the additional capacity to develop and manufacture therapeutic proteins for partners Centocor, Medarex and others using the LEX System, a proprietary protein expression system that relies on the aquatic plant Lemna for production. The expansion will also benefit Locteron(TM), the company’s novel, controlled-release formulation of recombinant human alfa interferon, which is expected to enter Phase 1 clinical trials later this year. In 2006, Biolex plans to enter Phase 1 trials with its BLX-155, a novel, direct acting fibrinolytic agent.
About Biolex Therapeutics
Biolex Therapeutics applies its unique drug development capabilities and expertise to commercialize complex proteins and monoclonal antibodies that until now have been impossible or very expensive to develop through traditional means. Biolex’ patented LEX System(TM) uses Lemna as a transgenic host. The company is advancing a proprietary pipeline of product candidates including Locteron(TM), a novel controlled-release form of alfa interferon which will enter Phase 1 clinical trials in 2005. Biolex has a multi-protein strategic alliance with Centocor and collaborations with other pharmaceutical/biotech companies including Medarex and OctoPlus. For additional information, please visit Biolex’ web site at http://www.biolex.com.
Contact: Michelle Linn, Linnden Communications, 774-696-3803, michlinn@charter.net
Biolex Therapeutics
CONTACT: Michelle Linn of Linnden Communications, +1-774-696-3803,michlinn@charter.net
Web site: http://www.biolex.com/
