BAC, Octapharma enter licence agreement for G-CSF CaptureSelect custom affinity ligand

Aug 17 2010

BAC BV, the leading provider of antibody-based affinity purification technology, today announced that it has entered into a licence agreement with Octapharma (Lachen, Switzerland), an independent, global provider of human proteins for life-threatening diseases.

“Our aim is always to provide safe products of the highest purity, and BAC's ligands are a key part of our purification process.”

Under the terms of the license, Octapharma can use BAC's G-CSF CaptureSelect^® custom affinity ligand for the purification of recombinant human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) from human (HEK293F) cell cultures. Existing G-CSF products are marketed as Filgrastim (E.coli derived), and Lenograstim (CHO derived). This license follows success in an earlier collaboration (the feasibility study program), in which BAC discovered and developed the anti-G-CSF ligand in close collaboration with Octapharma.

This custom-designed affinity chromatography media enables Octapharma to rapidly setup a production process for this recombinant protein as it decreases valuable time needed for down stream process development. More traditional methods used include a range of conventional chromatography steps resulting in a lower recovery of the overall process compared to using affinity chromatography.

"The team here at BAC are delighted to have delivered a second custom-made CaptureSelect affinity ligand for Octapharma," said Dr Laurens Sierkstra, CEO of BAC. "This further success confirms the reliability of the CaptureSelect platform to consistently produce highly specific affinity ligands for the purification of any protein."

"The start of this collaboration with BAC, in G-CSF, came from the success with our previous collaboration to develop a ligand for the purification of factor IX and the use of a BAC-derived ligand for affinity purification of recombinant factor VIII (the product is currently in clinical trials)," said Kim Björnstrup, Vice Chairman of Octapharma Group. "Our aim is always to provide safe products of the highest purity, and BAC's ligands are a key part of our purification process."

G-CSF is a hormone that stimulates bone marrow to produce white blood cells and stem cells, and has therapeutic uses in oncology and haematology. Octapharma will produce G-CSF for use primarily within the field of oncology, for example after chemotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation.