BAC has entered into a license agreement with Octapharma, which will see the provider of human proteins for life-threatening diseases use BAC's G-CSF Captureselect custom affinity ligand.
Octapharma will use the G-CSF Captureselect custom affinity ligand for the purification of recombinant human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) from human (HEK293F) cell cultures.
Existing G-CSF products are marketed as Filgrastim (E.
coli derived) and Lenograstim (CHO derived).
This license follows success in an earlier collaboration (the feasibility study programme), in which BAC discovered and developed the anti-G-CSF ligand in conjunction with Octapharma.
The custom-designed affinity chromatography media enables Octapharma to rapidly set up a production process for this recombinant protein as it decreases time needed for downstream process development.
More traditional methods used include a range of conventional chromatography steps resulting in a lower recovery of the overall process compared with using affinity chromatography.
G-CSF is a hormone that stimulates bone marrow to produce white blood cells and stem cells, and has therapeutic uses in oncology and haematology.
Octapharma will produce G-CSF for use primarily within the field of oncology, for example, after chemotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation.
