OXFORD, U.K.—Roughly a month after launching its new baculoXPRESS suite of comprehensive and customizable baculovirus expression services—aimed at providing customers with multiple recombinant viruses simultaneously, quickly and cost-effectively—Oxford Expression Technologies (OET) entered into a co-marketing agreement with Liverpool-based Eden Biodesign, a provider of biopharmaceutical process development and cGMP manufacturing services.
Under the terms of the agreement, OET will offer its customers access to Eden Biodesign's process development, clinical trial cGMP manufacturing and analytical development services. In turn, Eden Biodesign's customers will have access to OET's wide range of baculovirus-based protein expression products and service capabilities to meet their individual protein expression requirements.
OET customers will be enjoying a smooth transition between optimization of expression and cGMP production and scale-up on the one hand, notes James Bernard, CEO of Oxford Expression Technologies, and the ability to transfer projects intended for clinical development to Eden Biodesign's world-class process development, cGMP manufacturing and analytical development services on the other hand.
"This partnership will provide customers with unprecedented choice and flexibility," Bernard says. "Through Eden Biodesign, we can offer customers global cGMP-certified scale-up capabilities."
For their part, Eden's customers can now take advantage of OET's experience in troubleshooting baculovirus expression, says Crawford Brown, CEO of Eden Biodesign. They will also gain the use of OET's flashBAC technology to increase protein yield in difficult to express proteins and better ability to develop protocols for optimal expression of their proteins.
"Baculovirus protein expression technology can enable faster, easier and more cost-effective protein production compared with other expression methods," Brown points out. "By collaborating with OET, a world leader in the baculovirus field, we can help the increasing number of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies who are interested in evaluating the performance of their biotherapeutic and vaccine products using this exciting technology to progress rapidly into and through clinical development."
The baculoXPRESS services that OET launched shortly before the co-marketing deal includes gene synthesis; PCR cloning; sub-cloning; production of recombinant viruses using flashBAC, flashBACGOLD, or flashBACULTRA virus DNA; expression optimization; protein production and purification; and next-day virus titration using OET's baculoQUANT methodology—each providing defined deliverables with relevant documentation. Additional expression services are available on request. The routine use of flashBACGOLD/ULTRA in the services will also result in increased protein yield and quality, Bernard says.
Ultimately, Bernard indicates, the baculoXPRESS launch and co-marketing agreement with Eden serve his company's goal of "providing customers with a comprehensive range of services and consultancy to meet their individual protein expression requirements quickly and cost-effectively."
OET will continue to branch out into other areas and applications of insect expression systems in order to broaden its portfolio, Bernard notes, and his company is "looking forward to even closer working relationships with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to meet the needs of the post-genomic era."
Under the terms of the agreement, OET will offer its customers access to Eden Biodesign's process development, clinical trial cGMP manufacturing and analytical development services. In turn, Eden Biodesign's customers will have access to OET's wide range of baculovirus-based protein expression products and service capabilities to meet their individual protein expression requirements.
OET customers will be enjoying a smooth transition between optimization of expression and cGMP production and scale-up on the one hand, notes James Bernard, CEO of Oxford Expression Technologies, and the ability to transfer projects intended for clinical development to Eden Biodesign's world-class process development, cGMP manufacturing and analytical development services on the other hand.
"This partnership will provide customers with unprecedented choice and flexibility," Bernard says. "Through Eden Biodesign, we can offer customers global cGMP-certified scale-up capabilities."
For their part, Eden's customers can now take advantage of OET's experience in troubleshooting baculovirus expression, says Crawford Brown, CEO of Eden Biodesign. They will also gain the use of OET's flashBAC technology to increase protein yield in difficult to express proteins and better ability to develop protocols for optimal expression of their proteins.
"Baculovirus protein expression technology can enable faster, easier and more cost-effective protein production compared with other expression methods," Brown points out. "By collaborating with OET, a world leader in the baculovirus field, we can help the increasing number of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies who are interested in evaluating the performance of their biotherapeutic and vaccine products using this exciting technology to progress rapidly into and through clinical development."
The baculoXPRESS services that OET launched shortly before the co-marketing deal includes gene synthesis; PCR cloning; sub-cloning; production of recombinant viruses using flashBAC, flashBACGOLD, or flashBACULTRA virus DNA; expression optimization; protein production and purification; and next-day virus titration using OET's baculoQUANT methodology—each providing defined deliverables with relevant documentation. Additional expression services are available on request. The routine use of flashBACGOLD/ULTRA in the services will also result in increased protein yield and quality, Bernard says.
Ultimately, Bernard indicates, the baculoXPRESS launch and co-marketing agreement with Eden serve his company's goal of "providing customers with a comprehensive range of services and consultancy to meet their individual protein expression requirements quickly and cost-effectively."
OET will continue to branch out into other areas and applications of insect expression systems in order to broaden its portfolio, Bernard notes, and his company is "looking forward to even closer working relationships with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to meet the needs of the post-genomic era."
