DSM Biologics and AC Immune SA, Lausanne, Switzerland, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which the parties have agreed that DSM will be the Development and Manufacturing Partner for AC Immune’s monoclonal antibody against Alzheimer’s disease. The Development and Manufacturing activities will be executed in DSM Biologics’ FDA-approved manufacturing facility in Groningen, The Netherlands.
“After an intensive market analysis we have decided to choose DSM as our partner for the production of AC Immune’s conformation-specific monoclonal Alzheimer’s antibody, ACI-01-Ab7, based on the best quality to cost offerings by DSM” said Andrea Pfeifer, CEO of AC Immune.
“DSM Biologics is very exited to contribute to the development of AC Immune’s promising drug for treating Alzheimers’s disease and is looking forward to the mutually beneficial collaboration” says Terry Novak, Chief Marketing Officer, DSM Pharmaceutical Products.
About DSM Biologics DSM Biologics, a business unit of DSM Pharmaceutical Products, is a leading provider of manufacturing technology & services to the biopharmaceutical industry. In addition to offering world-class biopharmaceutical manufacturing services, DSM Biologics has co-exclusive rights, along with Dutch biotech company Crucell N.V., to license the high-producing PER.C6® human cell line as a production platform for recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies. DSM Biologics’ FDA-approved facility in Groningen, The Netherlands was established in 1986, and has a strong track record in using a broad range of cell lines (PER.C6®, CHO, hybridoma, etc.) in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, and has wide-range of experience using multiple manufacturing (batch, fed-batch and continuous perfusion) and purification techniques. The combination of the PER.C6® human cell line and DSM’s manufacturing services provides companies with a turn-key biologic manufacturing solution reducing cost, risk and time to market. For more information, please visitwww.dsmbiologics.com.
About DSM DSM is active worldwide in nutritional and pharma ingredients, performance materials and industrial chemicals. The company creates innovative products and services that help improve the quality of life. DSM’s products are used in a wide range of end markets and applications such as human and animal nutrition and health, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, automotive and transport, coatings, housing and electrics & electronics (E&E). DSM’s strategy, named Vision 2010 – Building on Strengths, focuses on accelerating profitable and innovative growth of the company’s specialties portfolio. Market-driven growth, innovation and increased presence in emerging economies are key drivers of this strategy. The group has annual sales of over EUR 8 billion and employs some 22,000 people worldwide. DSM ranks among the global leaders in many of its fields. The company is headquartered in the Netherlands, with locations in Europe, Asia and the Americas. More information about DSM can be found at www.dsm.com.
About AC Immune AC Immune is a privately held company focussing on the development of therapies against Alzheimer’s disease, a so-called conformational disease. AC Immune is using its proprietary immunology platform to develop active and passive immunotherapies, i.e. vaccination or monoclonal antibodies, against that disease, directly reducing the toxic beta amyloid plaques in the brain. AC Immune’s proprietary immunology platform technology brings the ability to break the immune tolerance to “self” proteins by generating conformation-sensitive antibodies that lead to the creation of active and passive immune therapies. The company’s products are in the preclinical stage and the first product will enter clinical phase I in 2006/2007.
AC Immune’s Intellectual property is based on research performed by Jean-Marie Lehn, Ph.D, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1987, Collège de France, Paris and Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, specialist in molecular recognition and supramolecular chemistry and Chairman of AC Immune’s Scientific Advisory Board, and Claude Nicolau, Ph.D., an international leader in cellular biophysics, Tufts University, Boston MA.
AC Immune was founded in February 2003 in Basel, Switzerland. Our team of experienced managers and scientists – 13 persons from 8 different nations - is located since 2005 in Lausanne, Switzerland, in the Science Park on the Campus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL).
AC Immune works closely with large pharmaceutical companies and is seeking strategic alliances for the development of its vaccine and antibody-based Alzheimer drugs.
In May 2005, AC Immune successfully completed its round B financing goal of CHF 21 million from private and strategic investors. Two thirds of that sum was contributed by new investors. This successful financing was built on the continuous trust of both existing and new investors in the company’s technological edge from preclinical to clinical development. More information about AC Immune is available under www.acimmune.com.
For further information please contact:
For more information: DSM Pharmaceutical Products Terry Novak, Chief Marketing Officer +(1) 973-257-8471 Terry.Novak@dsm.com
DSM Biologics Brad Carlson, Vice President Sales, Marketing & NBD +(1) 585-624-3844 Brad.Carlson@dsm.com
AC Immune Dr. Andrea Pfeifer CEO AC Immune +(41) 21-693 91 22 andrea.pfeifer@acimmune.com
