Protein production pact

Novozymes Biopharma has signed a licence agreement with GE Healthcare Life Sciences that will enable the company to produce and deliver native, animal-free protein A using GE Healthcare technology. The protein is the active component in chromatography media used in the production of antibodies with applications in areas including drug production and bio-chemical analysis.

The ability to purify antibodies has been an essential tool in many of the advances made in biotechnology. The purification is performed using chromatographic techniques, where recent advances allow production of the antibodies in large quantities. Caspar Foghsgaard, Strategic Product Director, Novozymes Biopharma, comments, "We are delighted to have secured this licence agreement with GE Healthcare which will result in rapid growth of our protein A production."

The ability of protein A to bind to antibodies has been used successfully at industrial scale for several years to produce monoclonal antibodies that are used as drugs in the treatment of illnesses such as arthritis and cancer.

For further information on Novozymes Biopharma's products and technologies visit biopharma.novozymes.com