PRESS RELEASE
Algenex and FATRO sign commercial license agreement for development of a second CrisBio®-based vaccine
Agreement strengthens collaboration between the companies following submission of the first dossier to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for a CrisBio® produced recombinant vaccine
Madrid (Spain) and Bologna (Italy), December 2, 2019 – Algenex SL, a private biotechnology company delivering disruptive technologies for recombinant biologics production, and FATRO S.p.A, a leader in the field of veterinary pharmaceutical products, today announce that they have entered into a new commercial license agreement for the development of a second CrisBio®-based vaccine for a major swine indication.
This is the second commercial license agreement between the two companies. The first agreement, for the worldwide use and industrial production of a recombinant vaccine using CrisBio® technology, was signed in September 2015.
CrisBio® is Algenex’ proprietary and patent protected Baculovirus vector-mediated expression platform that harnesses the power of insects to act as natural single-use bioreactors. It is a versatile and robust alternative to current bioreactor-based expression technologies and offers additional benefits including linear scalability, reduced production costs and increased productivity, reaching gram per litre yields. In October, Algenex announced the submission of a dossier to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for a recombinant VLP vaccine produced using Algenex’ proprietary CrisBio® technology (https://www.algenex.com/wp-content/uploads/FIRST-SUBMISSION-OF-CRISBIO-VACCINE-PR-final.doc_.pdf). The submission is targeting a European marketing authorization via the centralized approval system. This was the first vaccine produced using Algenex’ CrisBio® technology to be submitted for regulatory approval.
“We are delighted to have strengthened our collaboration with FATRO through this new commercial license agreement,” said Dr. Jose Escribano, Founder and CSO of Algenex. “We’ve been working closely with FATRO since 2015 and this new agreement is further validation for our proprietary CrisBio® platform and its potential to transform vaccine production in major indications in both animal and human health. We remain committed to fulfilling our vision of transforming protein production to enable universal access to biotechnology.”
“For FATRO, CrisBio® technology represents an important opportunity to expand its portfolio of vaccines for veterinary use with a series of highly innovative products,” stated Dr. Francesco Meliota, vice president responsible for IVMPs, “and the excellent results obtained during the development of the first product further reinforced our belief in its practical potentialities, convincing us to sign this new agreement with Algenex.”
Commercial and financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
For further information, please contact:
Algenex contact Fatro contact
Claudia Jiménez Silvana Dal Magro
General Manager President
T: +34 91 452 4941 T: +39 051 6512711
cjimenez@algenex.com fatro@fatro.it
About Algenex
Algenex is a private biotechnology company developing disruptive baculovirus-based technologies for the production of recombinant biologics. Algenex´ first two platforms, TopBac® and CrisBio®, are based on baculovirus-based expression systems and have demonstrated their capacity to transform recombinant protein production through a process that provides almost unlimited and immediate scalability of manufacturing, production flexibility, simplicity and versatility while being extremely cost efficient.
To date, Algenex’ work has centred mainly on the development and production of veterinary vaccines, with > 200 molecules successfully produced in collaboration with public and private partners, including multiple international pharmaceutical companies. Algenex plans to expand the application of its proprietary and patented technologies into human health in order to fully exploit the potential of its platforms.
For more information, please visit http://www.algenex.com
About FATRO S.p.A
Founded in 1947, FATRO is a pharmaceutical company that has always concentrated its activities exclusively in the veterinary medicine sector.
The beating heart of its research laboratories and its main production plants are located in Italy. FATRO has its own subsidiary companies in Poland, Spain, Greece, Czech Republic, Argentina, Uruguay, India and exports its products to over 90 Countries. Currently, the Group employs over 700 people worldwide.
FATRO invests continuously in research in the ethical drugs and veterinary vaccines sectors, with the aim of developing new products and production technologies.
For more information, please visit http://www.fatro.com