ProBioGen and Vaccitech sign license deal for tech platform
AGE1.CR allows large-scale manufacturing with higher production yields
BERLIN & OXFORD, U.K.—May 15 saw ProBioGen AG, a German service and technology provider for complex biologics, and Vaccitech Ltd., a spinout company from the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute, sign a license agreement.
Under the terms of the agreement, Vaccitech will gain access to ProBioGen’s proprietary technology platform based on the AGE1.CR duck retina cell line for production of its viral vectored vaccines. Earlier work leading to the license confirmed that the AGE1.CR duck cell technology allows large-scale manufacturing with higher production yields and lower cost of goods compared to other poxvirus production technologies.
“We have developed the AGE1.CR designer cell line, the chemically defined media and the process over many years, and have solved the main challenges for the production of highly attenuated poxvirus vectors,” said ProBioGen’s chief scientific officer, Dr Volker Sandig. “We are very pleased to see a strong industry demand for our platform and are convinced that Vaccitech’s highly innovative vaccine approach will greatly benefit from it.”
Added Vaccitech’s CEO, Dr Thomas G. Evans: “We are delighted to work with ProBioGen and manufacture our innovative, universal flu vaccine, VTP-100, on the novel AGE1.CR.pIX duck cell line. Both safety and immunogenicity profiles of VTP-100 manufactured on the AGE1.CR.pIX duck cell line are comparable to those manufactured on CEF, used in previous trials. These positive results support AGE1.CR.pIX-based manufacture of the vaccine for future clinical studies.”
