|
Leverkusen, Germany and Owensboro,
Kentucky, USA
September 29, 2008
Bayer Innovation GmbH
and Kentucky Bioprocessing, LLC
(KBP) are collaborating to develop a facility at KBP’s Owensboro
plant in the US state of Kentucky for the production service of
biopharmaceuticals. Based on Bayer’s proprietary magnICON®
technology, plant made pharmaceutical proteins (PMP) and other
high-value products will be produced in tobacco plants on
commercial scale.
Under terms of the agreement, KBP will adapt its existing cGMP
(cGMP = current Good Manufacturing Practice) compliant facility
by installing an automated system for high throughput
transfection of tobacco host plants. The agreement makes KBP the
“preferred production partner” for the application of magnICON®,
an innovative technology for the fast high-yield production of
proteins in tobacco plants.
Bayer has internal product development projects – for example a
vaccine for the therapy of Non-Hodgkin-Lymphoma – based on the
magnICON® platform. Beyond that Bayer is also in the process of
licensing out this technology to several parties. “To accelerate
these applications of this technology, we decided to team up
with an experienced external manufacturer, and KBP, with its
excellent facilities and highly qualified personnel is the best
choice in our view”, said Dr. Detlef Wollweber, General Manager
of Bayer Innovation.
“Bayer and its subsidiary, Bayer Innovation, are among the
highest regarded participants in the PMP sector”, said KBP
Chairman Hugh Haydon. “Our association with them is not only
important for the growth of KBP, but we believe is also
significant in the evolution and development of the PMP industry
in Owensboro and worldwide.”
Construction on the magnICON® related improvements at KBP is
scheduled to begin in October 2008. Completion and initial
testing of the new facilities is planned for spring of 2009.
The magnICON® technology is a new generation proprietary process
for rapid, high-yield production of recombinant proteins, such
as biopharmaceuticals, in tobacco plants. It does not require
genetic engineering of plants, but instead relies on a blueprint
for the desired product delivered temporarily to the plant using
a soil bacterium. Entire plants are infiltrated with a highly
diluted suspension of bacteria carrying the blueprint. The
process has been shown to work with over 50 different
pharmaceutical proteins on laboratory scale and it can be
performed on an industrial scale in a fully contained
manufacturing facility. The speed and yield of magnICON® offers
new prospects for substances which have previously been
impractical because of the length of time needed to produce
them, or cost of their manufacturing.
Bayer Innovation GmbH (BIG), a wholly owned subsidiary of
Bayer AG, evaluates and develops new fields of business for the
Bayer Group are related to Bayer’s core competencies of health
care, nutrition and innovative materials and complement its
current key areas of innovation and business.
Icon Genetics is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer Innovation
GmbH; it was established in 1999 and acquired by Bayer in 2006.
The company develops processes for the biotechnological
production of proteins and other high-value products in plants.
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the
fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. The
company’s products and services are designed to benefit people
and improve their quality of life. At the same time Bayer
creates value through innovation, growth and improved earning
power. The Group is committed to the principles of sustainable
development and acknowledges and accepts its role as a socially
and ethically responsible “corporate citizen”. Economy, ecology
and social responsibility are corporate policy objectives of
equal rank. In fiscal 2007, Bayer employed 106,200 people and
had sales of EUR 32.4 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to
EUR 1.9 billion, the R&D budget to EUR 2.6 billion. More
information is available on the Internet at
www.bayer.com
Kentucky Bioprocessing, LLC
is located in Owensboro, Kentucky and maintains a highly
experienced staff and facilities focused on expression,
extraction, purification and commercial scale production of
proteins and other products from plants. KBP offers clients and
collaborators access to controlled plant growth facilities along
with bench, pilot and full-scale processing facilities capable
of production under cGMP conditions. In addition to its own
capabilities KBP is able to leverage the experienced staff and
facilities of the Owensboro Cancer Research Program and provides
linkages to the considerable plant-made product expertise of the
Owensboro area agriculture community and to other services
offered throughout the region designed to support research,
development and growth of a plant-made product business cluster.
Find more information at
www.kbpllc.com |
|
