Cobra Biomanufacturing has signed a contract with the Australian company Replikun Biotech to support the development of an innovative gene therapy method.
Cobra will construct and establish a packaging cell line producing Kun-GMCSF, a potent and novel gene therapy system for the treatment of cancer.
Commenting on the contract, David Thatcher, CEO at Cobra, said: "We are delighted to engage with Replikun for this exciting project.
"It is a valuable endorsement of our ability to work with novel viruses and vaccines, and also demonstrates our continued expansion within the Australian biopharmaceutical market".
Shane Storey, CEO at Replikun, said: "We are very impressed with Cobra's expertise in the manufacture of novel viruses and vector systems and are confident that it will deliver the cell lines in time and with the highest quality as required for our Kun-GMCSF programme".
Cobra Biomanufacturing is a manufacturer of biopharmaceuticals to the life science industry.
Founded in 1992, Cobra provides innovative manufacturing to the biopharmaceutical industry covering DNA, virus, cellular therapeutics and recombinant protein products.
Cobra was the first company to develop and gain GMP (good manufacturing practice) standard DNA manufacture in Europe, with specific expertise in DNA medicines.
A range of unique, patented technologies underpins this revenue generating business.
Cobra floated on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in June 2002 raising £7 million and raised a further £5.2 million in May 2003 in order to further expand capacity in Oxford UK.
Cobra is committed to conducting its manufacturing activities in accordance with appropriate current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) and good control laboratory practice (GCLP) regulations and/or guidelines.
Kun-GMCSF enables the expression of a protein in human cells that stimulates the immune system to overcome a tumour's ability to evade the immune system, thereby effecting specific tumour killing.
It uses a novel gene delivery approach based on Replikun's proprietary vector system Kunrep vector systems, derived from the Kunjin virus.
Replikun Biotech is a privately held immunotherapy company founded in March 2005.
The company is focused on the development and commercialization of novel immunotherapies to combat infectious diseases and cancer.
Replikun offers licensing and collaboration opportunities based on Kunrep Vectors, its proprietary gene delivery and expression technology.
The technology is underpinned by an integrated portfolio of granted and pending patent applications which comprise the Kunrep Vectors, their pharmaceutical applications and methods of manufacture.
Replikun is conducting pre-clinical studies of Kun-GMCSF, an investigational oncology candidate developed using the Kunrep Vector system.
