CEVEC Pharma And Genethonn Sign A Collaboration Agreement To Develop Lentiviral Vector Packaging Cell Lines Based On CEVEC’s Proprietary CAP(R)GT Technology

COLOGNE, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CEVEC Pharmaceuticals GmbH (CEVEC), the expert in the production of tailor-made recombinant glycoproteins and gene therapy vectors, today announced a collaboration agreement with Généthon (Evry, France) for the development and exploitation of lentivirus packaging cell lines based on CEVEC's proprietary CAP(R)GT technology.

“We are seeing an increasing interest in our unique system as more and more gene therapy programs need scalable manufacturing capabilities.”

Under the terms of the agreement, CEVEC will grant Généthon a license for the development of lentivirus packaging cell lines based on CEVEC's CAP(R)GT technology to be used with its own portfolio of gene therapy products in the field of rare diseases. Furthermore, Généthon will offer its development and production expertise to manufacture CAP(R)GT derived lentiviral vectors for its partners. CEVEC will offer the required licenses for its CAP(R)GT technology to Généthon's partners. Financial details of this agreement were not disclosed.

"Généthon is an important player with huge experience in developing gene therapies for rare diseases with several products in clinical development. The agreement with Généthon is a strong endorsement of our CAP(R)GT system and represents a major step in the roll-out of our strategy to position our platform as the technology of choice for commercial production of lentiviral vectors for gene therapy applications," commented Frank Ubags, Chief Executive Officer of CEVEC Pharmaceuticals GmbH. "We are seeing an increasing interest in our unique system as more and more gene therapy programs need scalable manufacturing capabilities."

With its CAP(R)GT cell lines, CEVEC provides a novel platform for the industrial production of viral vectors for gene therapy applications. Growing in serum-free suspension cultures, CAP(R)GT provides outstanding production capabilities and high cell densities allowing for easier scale-up and reduced production costs when compared to adherent cell culture systems including HEK293.

About Généthon:

Généthon, created by the AFM-Telethon, has the mission to make innovative gene therapy treatments available to patients affected with rare genetic diseases.

Having played a pioneering role in deciphering the human genome, Généthon is today, with more than 200 scientists, physicians, engineers and regulatory affairs specialists, one of the leading organizations for the development of gene therapy treatments. Généthon has also built one of the largest sites worldwide for GMP production of gene therapy products, Généthon Bioprod. In 2012, Généthon was awarded the prestigious Prix Galien for Pharmaceutical Research (France). In 2015, Généthon was one of 16 winners of the World Innovation Competition 2030 for its project on the development of an industrial process for production of gene therapy vectors.

The pipeline of Généthon includes products currently in international clinical trials and at preclinical stages, for immune deficiencies, muscular dystrophies, ocular and liver diseases. These products are developed either with Généthon as sponsor, or in partnership with private companies and academic institutions.

About CEVEC:

Privately held CEVEC, based in Cologne, Germany, is an expert for the production of tailor-made recombinant glyco-proteins and gene therapy vectors. The Company's core technologies, CAP(R)Go and CAP(R)GT are based on a unique human cellular expression system.

The CAP(R)Go expression platform comprises a portfolio of glyco-optimized human suspension cell lines for tailor-made glycosylation of recombinant proteins. The cells are highly efficient for the production of a broad range of difficult to express glycoproteins and provide authentic human post-translational modifications. CAP(R)Go has proven to enhance the activity, stability and serum half-life of several candidate proteins.

The CAP(R)GT expression platform provides a fully scalable, regulatory endorsed production system for gene therapy vectors. CAP(R)GT cells grow to high cell densities and show a broad viral propagation spectrum including lentivirus (LV), adenovirus (AV) and adeno-associated virus (AAV). Furthermore, CAP(R)GT enables easier scale-up and reduced production costs when compared to adherent cell culture systems.

Research collaborations with international pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners followed by licensing agreements for the technology form one revenue base for CEVEC. In addition, the Company provides contract manufacturing for the cGMP production in CAP(R)Go and CAP(R)GT cells.

www.cevec.com