ST. LOUIS, June 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (NASDAQ: SIAL) today announced that SAFC® Commercial (www.safcglobal.com), its custom manufacturing services business unit, has won commercial sales and licensing contracts with two leading Asian biopharmaceutical companies for the purchase of CHOZN®, their off-the-shelf cell line production platform. The contracts feature the CHOZN® Platform system as a key component of each customer's global biotherapeutic commercialization strategy.
The CHOZN® Platform consists of the CHOZN® GS-/- CHO cell line and an optimized set of cGMP-produced, chemically defined (CD) media and feeds designed specifically for the cell line to maximize the production of monoclonal antibodies and other r-proteins. Powered by Sigma-Aldrich's CompoZr® Zinc Finger Nuclease (ZFN) technology, SAFC's cGMP-produced and tested CHOZN® cell line was the first commercially available glutamine synthetase (GS) knockout CHO line on the market.
The CHOZN® GS (-/-) platform provides a best-in-class stable cell line that results in faster, simpler selection and scale-up of high-producing manufacturing clones, saving weeks of development. In combination with the ZFN technology, CHOZN® provides a gateway from development through commercialization.
In addition to the cell line, media and feed, SAFC provides extensive user support. This includes working with the customer on protocols from transfection through to scale-up in bioreactors, as well as providing comprehensive cell line safety testing and development history packages. In addition, the lean CD media and feed system allows for tunable product quality.
"We are seeing a great deal of interest in our CHOZN® Platform in Asia as numerous pharmaceutical companies in the region are looking to enter this market," said Dr. Kevin Kayser, Director of the CHOZN® Platform for SAFC. "Going forward, we expect to see increased engagement throughout the region based on our ability to accelerate upstream development timelines to positively impact the potential profitability of biotherapeutic products."
For more information about the CHOZN Platform, visit www.safcglobal.com/choznplatform
The foregoing press release contains forward-looking statements that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Some of the risks associated with these statements are summarized in the English language version of this release and the most recent Form 10-K of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The reader is encouraged to review those summaries carefully.
About SAFC: SAFC Commercial, the custom manufacturing and services business unit of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, is recognized as a top 10 global specialty chemicals and biologics supplier. As a trusted manufacturer for the life science and high technology industries, SAFC works closely with customers to resolve development challenges and accelerate the product pipeline utilizing its global "Centers of Excellence" and dedicated manufacturing facilities. Its rich portfolio includes high-purity inorganic materials for high technology applications, critical raw materials and extensive biologics safety testing services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing, and complex, high-potent APIs and key intermediates for pharmaceutical manufacturing. For more information, visit www.safcglobal.com.
About Sigma-Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company whose biochemical, organic chemical products, kits and services are used in scientific research, including genomic and proteomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and as key components in pharmaceutical, diagnostics and high technology SAFC manufacturing. Sigma-Aldrich customers include more than 1.3 million scientists and technologists in life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals and industry. The Company operates in 38 countries and has nearly 9,100 employees whose objective is to provide excellent service worldwide. Sigma-Aldrich is committed to accelerating customer success through innovation and leadership in Life Science and High Technology. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its website at www.sigma-aldrich.com.
©2013 Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC. All rights reserved. SAFC is a trademark of Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC or its Affiliates, registered in the US and other countries.
