Melbourne, Australia - 8 May 2017 - AdAlta Limited (ASX: 1AD), the biotechnology Company advancing its lead i-body candidate towards clinical development, announces that contract manufacturer Lonza has presented data on the production of AdAlta’s i-bodies in Lonza’s XS™ Pichia (or yeast) Expression Technology. The data was presented at the 9th Conference on Recombinant Protein Production in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
As part of the process development collaboration entered into in December 2014, Lonza has optimized the expression efficiency of an i-body in its XS™ Pichia Expression System. The data presented demonstrates the scalability of this yeast system for the production of i-bodies and efficiency of expression levels. In particular, the Lonza team has been able to improve the host strains of Pichia to almost double the yield (to approximately 7 gm/L) in half the fermentation time. AdAlta has already shown that its i-bodies can be produced in a number of expression systems. The work Lonza has done demonstrates the ability of AdAlta’s i-body platform to be expressed in an alternative system to the current standard bacterial system (Escherichia coli). As an alternative, yeast-based expression system, Pichia potentially provides high yields using a simple, fast fermentation method.
AdAlta’s Chief Executive Officer Sam Cobb said, “This work by Lonza is a step towards confirming that i-bodies can be expressed at commercially scalable quantities, a core business objective that AdAlta has highlighted for the first half of 2017. This is vital as we progress towards human clinical trials. In addition, given the cost of biologic drugs, being able to reduce manufacturing costs should provide a market advantage.”
Lonza’s poster (RPP9), entitled “Promoter and process engineering for recombinant protein production in Pichia pastoris towards simple, fast and methanol-free cultivation regimes and high product titers” is available on the AdAlta website www.adalta.com.au.
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Notes To Editors
About AdAlta
AdAlta Limited is an Australian based drug development company headquartered in Melbourne. The Company is focused on using its proprietary technology platform to generate i-bodies, a new class of protein therapeutics, with applications as therapeutic drugs to treat disease.
I-bodies are a promising, novel class of drugs that offer a new and more effective approach to treating a wide range of human diseases. They are identified and developed using our proprietary technology platform.
We have pioneered a technology that mimics the shape and stability of a crucial antigen-binding domain, that was discovered initially in sharks and then developed as a human protein. The result is a range of unique compounds, now known as i-bodies, for use in treating serious diseases.
AdAlta is developing its lead i-body candidate, AD-114, for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other human fibrotic diseases, for which current therapies are sub-optimal and there is a high-unmet medical need.
The Company also plans to continue further drug discovery and development directed towards other drug targets and diseases with its i-body technology platform.
Further information can be found at: www.adalta.com.au.
About Lonza
Lonza is one of the world’s leading and most-trusted suppliers to the pharmaceutical, biotech and specialty ingredients markets. We harness science and technology to create products that support safer and healthier living and that enhance the overall quality of life.
Not only are we a custom manufacturer and developer, Lonza also offers services and products ranging from active pharmaceutical ingredients and stem-cell therapies to drinking water sanitizers, from the vitamin B compounds and organic personal care ingredients to agricultural products, and from industrial preservatives to microbial control solutions that combat dangerous viruses, bacteria and other pathogens.
Founded in 1897 in the Swiss Alps, Lonza today is a well-respected global company with more than 40 major manufacturing and R&D facilities and approximately 10,000 employees worldwide. The company generated sales of about CHF 3.6 billion in 2013 and is organized into two market-focused segments: Pharma&Biotech and Specialty Ingredients. Further information can be found at www.lonza.com.
Issued for and on behalf of Adalta by Instinctif Partners.
For more information please contact:
AdAlta Limited
Sam Cobb, CEO
Tel: +61 (0)3 9479 5159
E: s.cobb@adalta.com.au
Media (Australia)
Andrew Geddes
Tel: +61 (0)408 677 734
E: adalta@instinctif.com
Media (International)
Sue Charles / Daniel Gooch
Tel: +44 (0)20 7866 7905
E: adalta@instinctif.com
