Catalent to grow biologics business in Asia through partnership with MGC Pharma

Published: 20-Jan-2015

Will engineer cell lines using GPEx technology and carry out development, while MGC Pharma will provide Phase III and commercial manufacturing


Catalent Pharma Solutions is to link up with Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company (MGC) to jointly promote Catalent’s GPEx technology in the Asian market.

Chemical engineering company MGC recently established a subsidiary, MGC Pharma, to provide contract development, and clinical and commercial manufacturing of biologics in Asia.

Catalent says through the collaboration, MGC Pharma's customers will benefit from the stable and high yielding cell lines produced by GPEx technology, while bringing their development programmes to market faster.

Under the agreement, Catalent will engineer the cell lines and carry out development, while MGC Pharma will provide Phase III and commercial manufacturing. Additionally, MGC and MGC Pharma will be able to offer biosimilar cell lines produced using GPEx technology to pharmaceutical partners for further product development and commercialisation.

This agreement will allow Catalent to continue to grow its biologics development and manufacturing interests

Mike Jenkins, Vice President of Business Development, Catalent Biologics, Asia Pacific, said: 'This agreement will allow Catalent to continue to grow its biologics development and manufacturing interests of multiple NBEs and biosimilars, particularly in the Asia Pacific market. The collaboration with MGC Pharma fits Catalent’s strategy for growth in what we consider to be a promising region.'

MGC Pharma was launched in April 2014 in response to a requirement for medical proteins obtained solely from mammalian cell cultures. The company currently has analytical facilities in Niigata, Japan, and is establishing larger scale cGMP manufacturing sites using GPEx mammalian cell lines and single-use bioreactor (SUB) technologies.

Catalent Biologics has expressed more than 460 cell lines for clients using the GPEx technology, with dozens of on-going clinical trials throughout the world and five products currently on the market.

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