Boehringer Ingelheim to license PreEMT protein refolding technology
Will install a laboratory-scale reactor at its microbial facility in Vienna, Austria
Boehringer Ingelheim has agreed to license BaroFold’s PreEMT high pressure protein refolding technology.
The German pharmaceutical company will install a laboratory-scale reactor of BaroFold’s PreEMT at its microbial facility in Vienna, Austria, which will used for the development of biopharmaceutical production processes.
PreEMT employs high pressure for the disaggregation and controlled refolding of recombinant proteins to their native structures at yields and efficiencies not achievable using existing technologies. The technology can substantially reduce the cost of manufacturing due to its increased yield and throughput at high protein concentrations. It is readily scalable and has been used for the cGMP production of Phase 1 to Phase III clinical material.
Georg Klima, executive director of Process Science Austria at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: ‘This collaboration builds upon the exciting work we have completed with BaroFold over the last 18 months and enhances our strategy to integrate the most innovative technologies for biologic manufacturing. We will be able to leverage BaroFold’s high pressure refold technology on a variety of proteins under development at our facility in Vienna.’
Matthew Seefeldt, president and CSO at BaroFold, which is based in Aurora, CO in the US, added: ‘Boehringer Ingelheim is a pioneer in biologic drug manufacturing and to extend our collaboration with them further enhances our ability to provide the global biotechnology arena with a novel refold technology.’
This announcement comes after BaroFold licensed BaroFeron, developed with PreEMT technology, to Nuron Biotech in May 2010. Nuron has since completed a 500-patient enrolment in a Phase III clinical trial to evaluate NU100 (formerly BaroFeron) for the treatment of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Nuron's trial should be completed in late 2013.
