Fresenius Kabi and Octapharma sign licensing agreement

Fresenius Kabi of Germany and Swiss biopharmaceutical company Octapharma Group have signed a licensing agreement regarding the use of Fresenius Kabi's HESylation technology to develop a HESylated recombinant protein.

The HESylation technology is based on hydroxyethyl starch (HES), which will be combined with a recombinant protein from Octapharma's human cell-line platform. This combination is expected to generate a therapeutic protein with a superior product profile.

Fresenius Kabi will optimise the protein modification and afterwards will be responsible for providing the appropriate HES derivative to Octapharma. Under the agreement, Octapharma will oversee further development and commercialisation.

Fresenius Kabi is eligible for up-front and milestone payments, research funding and royalties on sales.

The company says it will establish further collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.