ProMetic
and Aldevron Expand Collaboration to Develop Next Generation DNA
Purification Technology
New
Technology Presented at 3rd Annual World Vaccine Congress
Montreal,
QC (Canada) – Fargo, North Dakota (USA) May 1, 2003 – ProMetic
BioSciences, the Canadian wholly owned subsidiary of ProMetic
Life Sciences Inc. (TSX: PLI) and
Aldevron, LLC today announced the expansion of their successful
collaboration to develop and market a new technology for the purification
of gene therapy and DNA vaccine products. The agreement leverages
ProMetic’s strengths in designing purification resins with Aldevron’s
expertise in the field of plasmid DNA manufacturing.
Aldevron
is currently using ProMetic’s Perflurosorb® S as part of a process to
manufacture a West Nile Virus (WNV) DNA Vaccine for the Center for Disease
Control (CDC). Perflurosorb® S is normally used to remove impurities
(such as endotoxin) from DNA solutions. During the course of the
Aldevron’s West Nile project, Aldevron scientists demonstrated that
Perflurosorb® S could also be used to resolve supercoiled plasmid DNA, a
highly active and stable form of DNA. The WNV vaccine results were jointly
presented at the 3rd Annual World Vaccine Congress recently held in
Montreal, Canada. The aim of the new collaboration is to develop
Perflurosorb® S-based procedures for use in the production of the highest
quality DNA for vaccines and gene therapy applications.
“We
have demonstrated that Perflurosorb® S can be used to not only produce
endotoxin-free plasmid DNA, but also to separate different forms of DNA”
said Michael Chambers, Aldevron President and CEO. “The next step is to
design reproducible procedures that can be used for any plasmid-DNA based
product. This will represent a significant advancement in gene therapy
manufacturing.”
Dr.
Leonard Smiley of ProMetic stated, "ProMetic's goal is to provide
cutting edge products that meet the increasingly demanding needs of DNA
researchers and manufactures as set by world regulatory agencies." He
further added, "ProMetic also wishes to report that it has recently
received approval by the FDA for the registry of Perflurosorb® in its
Drug Master File, a necessary step for the adoption of Perflurosorb® for
use in manufacture of DNA for therapeutic vaccines and gene therapy
products."
Through
the alliance, Aldevron will develop for ProMetic the DNA purification
procedures to be used with the Perflurosorb® family of products. Aldevron
will also aid ProMetic in promoting and selling the resin using those
procedures to government, industry, and academic organizations including
other contract organizations. Aldevron intends to use Perflurosorb® for
its own production of plasmid DNA for research and clinical use.
About
ProMetic
ProMetic
Life Sciences Inc. is an international biopharmaceutical company with
headquarters in Montreal, Quebec with additional facilities in the UK.
ProMetic is engaged in research, development, manufacture and
marketing of a variety of commercial applications from its proprietary
platform technologies, which are used in therapeutics, large-scale drug
purification, chemical genomics and proteomics, drug delivery and drug
development. Additional information is
available on the company’s website: www.prometic.com.
About
Aldevron
Aldevron
offers products and services to the DNA vaccine and gene therapy
community. These include contract plasmid manufacturing, genetic
immunization and antibody production, and a complete line of gene therapy
plasmids. More information can be found at www.aldevron.com.
Information:
ProMetic
Life Sciences Inc.
Pierre
Laurin, President
and CEO
(514)
341-2115
Genevieve
Poulin, Vice-President Finance & CFO
(514)
341-2115
Sofie
St. Laurent, Coordinator, Communication & Marketing Activities
(514)
673-1116
www.prometic.com
|
Hofman
Communications
Patrick
C. Hofman
(514)
673-1116
|
This press release contains
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties,
including, but not limited to the Company’s ability to develop,
manufacture, and successfully commercialize value-added pharmaceutical
products and to obtain contracts for its products and services and
commercial acceptance of advanced affinity separation technology.
Shareholders are cautioned that these statements are predictions
and these actual events or results may differ materially from those
anticipated in these forward-looking statements.
