BURNABY, BC, July 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Chromos Molecular Systems announced today that it has achieved significant progress in the development of the ACE System, its proprietary technology platform for engineering cell lines for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals including monoclonal antibodies (MAbs).
Chromos' President and CEO, Alistair Duncan, said two separate sets of recent data show that the ACE System is now achieving results comparable to or better than other leading expression technologies.
"We believe these results confirm that the ACE System is a competitive and compelling alternative to other leading technologies and provide the foundation for us to become a front runner in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing technology sector."
Data presented by one of Chromos' partners at the recent IBC International Cell Line Development and Engineering Conference in San Diego, CA showed that cell lines engineered by Chromos using the ACE System to express the partner's monoclonal antibody:
- Achieved titers of >1 g/L in a non-optimized, non-fed shake flask system; and - Achieved a yield of approximately 4 g/L in an unoptimized bioreactor system.
And in a separate project to engineer cell lines to manufacture its own drug product candidate, CHR-1103, a humanized MAb it is developing for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, Chromos demonstrated that the ACE System successfully performs in large-scale manufacturing. The results were:
- A stable, clonal cell line was engineered in less than four months and transferred to Chromos' strategic partner, AppTec, for process development, scale up and manufacturing. - AppTec generated over 100 grams of purified MAb within six months of receiving the engineered cell line. - A fully validated master cell bank of the CHR-1103 cell line was generated, tested and shown to be acceptable for use in product manufacturing. - The cell line was transferred from the shake flask to a 500-litre bioreactor and continued to perform well, demonstrating cell line stability and scalability.
The ACE System is Chromos' leading revenue generator. The technology is licensed non-exclusively to third parties including Pfizer Inc., Centocor and Cambridge Antibody Technology.
The ACE System is used to generate cell lines that are needed to manufacture biopharmaceutical products such as MAbs. MAb-based drugs are already available or being developed to treat diseases such as cancer, viral infections and inflammatory disease.
MAbs are required in large quantities for therapeutic applications. They are expensive and time consuming to manufacture, which can add significantly to treatment costs.
Duncan says the high yields of MAbs produced by the ACE System provide clear economic benefits to users of the ACE System by reducing the manufacturing cost throughout the life of a product - which in turn could lower the cost of treatment.
The journal Nature Reviews has reported (Vol. 3:383, May 2004) that an estimated 132 MAbs are currently in development as biopharmaceutical products. Experts believe this could result in 16 new products by 2008, pushing the global market for these drugs to more than US$16 billion.
About Chromos
Chromos is a biopharmaceutical company with two drug development programs focused on inflammatory diseases and thrombotic disorders. The Company's lead program, CHR-1103, is a humanized monoclonal antibody being developed as a treatment for acute relapses associated with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Chromos generates revenue from its proprietary ACE System technology to engineer production quality cell lines to manufacture biopharmaceutical products including monoclonal antibodies. For more information visit our website at www.chromos.com.
Risks and Uncertainties
Certain of the statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Chromos (the "Company"), or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
To the extent possible, management implements strategies to reduce or mitigate the risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's operations. Operating risks include (i) the continued availability of capital to finance the Company's activities; (ii) the Company's limited cash position, (iii) the ability to successfully obtain proof of the effectiveness of the Company's technology (iv) the ability to complete and maintain corporate alliances relating to the development and commercialization of the Company's technology; (v) the ability to obtain and enforce patent and other intellectual property protection for the Company's technology; (vi) market acceptance of the Company's technology; (vii) the competitive environment and impact of technological change; (viii) the Company's ability to attract and retain employees to carry out its business plans and (ix) the timely development and commercialization of any technology or products that are contingent on the completion and maintenance of corporate alliances with third parties. Further details on Chromos' operating risks can be found in the Company's Quarterly and Annual Reports to Shareholders.
Chromos is a registered trademark of Chromos Molecular Systems Inc.
CONTACT: Joseph Zendegui, Ph.D., Vice President, Corporate Development, Tel: (604) 415-7128, Email:jzendegui@chromos.com, Website: www.chromos.com
Chromos Molecular Systems Inc.CONTACT: Joseph Zendegui, Ph.D., Vice President, Corporate Development,Tel: (604) 415-7128, Email:jzendegui@chromos.com, Website: www.chromos.com