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BAC B.V. Huizerstraatweg 28 1411 GP Naarden The Netherlands E: info@captureselect.com I: www.bac.nl |
BAC and LFB to develop ligand for Purifying Recombinant Factor VIIa
BAC and LFB Biotechnologies to Develop Custom Ligand for
Purifying Recombinant Factor VIIa
Naarden, The Netherlands, 28th May 2008 – BAC BV, the Bio Affinity Company, announced today that it has entered into a collaboration with LFB Biotechnologies (Les Ulis, France), a wholly owned subsidiary of LFB S.A., a biopharmaceutical company working in the highly specialized field of plasma-derived medicinal and biotech products. Working with LFB, BAC will discover and develop a custom CaptureSelect ligand for the purification of a recombinant Factor VIIa product – an essential protein for certain blood coagulation disorders – developed by LFB with GTC Biotherapeutics (“GTC”, Nasdaq: GTCB). The CaptureSelect ligand has the potential to obtain high purity in downstream processing while enhancing the cost reduction benefits of the transgenic expression system developed by LFB and GTC. LFB and GTC are producing Factor VIIa in the milk of animals that express this recombinant protein during lactation.
BAC has a proven reputation for the rapid discovery and development of customized ligands for a wide range of affinity applications from the purification of monoclonal antibodies and viruses, to plasma proteins. The CaptureSelect ligands are suitable and available for use at commercial biomanufacturing scale and for bench research.
“Our expertise in the custom design of affinity ligands makes BAC a great match for LFB in this project,” commented Laurens Sierkstra, CEO of BAC. “Our technology platform enables us to produce ligands that are not only highly specific for the target protein, but will generate a very pure product in a single purification step. We are very much looking forward to working with LFB to develop a ligand for their recombinant Factor VIIa protein that will help to simplify and streamline the purification process.”
“This collaboration with BAC for the development of a specific ligand for our recombinant factor VIIa is a significant step for the downstream process of this strategic project” commented Sami Chtourou, Director of technology platforms and innovation at LFB Biotechnologies.
"Thanks to the strategic alliance with GTC and the collaboration with BAC, we have assembled all the assets and skills required for the success of our rhFVIIa", stated Christian Béchon, LFB's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
BAC’s CaptureSelect ligand technology is based on unique Camelid single chain antibody fragments, which can be selected for desirable chromatographic characteristics and produced at high-titre in a proprietary S. cerevisiae strain. The CaptureSelect ligands are suitable and available for use at commercial biomanufacturing scale and for bench research.
About BAC
BAC BV – the Bio Affinity Company – offers a wide range of products and services for affinity purification of biological materials from complex media. The Company’s proprietary CaptureSelect® affinity ligands, based on Camelid single chain antibody fragments, have been proven to be suitable in a wide range of biological applications including Life Science Research and Biomanufacturing.
CaptureSelect® ligand technology is based on selection of single chain antibody fragments with desirable chromatographic characteristics including robustness, high specificity and flexibility. Suitable ligands are cloned and expressed in high-titers through an animal-free Saccharomyces cerevisiae-based process.
BAC BV was established in 1995 as a Unilever subsidiary. Currently the Company employs 28 people with an R&D laboratory facility and a state-of-the-art ISO 9001 certified manufacturing plant located in The Netherlands. For more information about BAC, visit our website at www.bac.nl. For more information about CaptureSelect® products, visit our website at www.captureselect.com
About LFB Group
With 2007 sales of 322 million euros ($496 million) and a R&D budget of 48 million euros ($74 million), LFB is the third largest pharmaceutical company supplying drugs to hospitals in France and a major European producer of plasma-derived medicinal products. LFB provides to healthcare professionals a wide range of 20 plasma-derived medicinal products in three therapeutic fields: Hemostasis, Intensive Care and Immunology. LFB’s medicinal products are prescribed to address emergencies but also to manage chronic diseases that require lifelong treatment. With 1380 employees, among which 230 are in R&D, LFB is recognized as one of the major European players in the field of therapeutic proteins with expertise in protein downstream processing, characterization as well as biological safety and viral clearance. LFB focuses its discovery and development activities on monoclonal antibodies and therapeutic proteins for rare and severe diseases. Ideally placed to become a driving force in new technological and therapeutic fields, LFB can use its technology platform to develop highly cytotoxic antibodies while its R&D portfolio contains high-potential projects calling on innovative technology.