Crucell Announces Research License Agreement with Bioceros on STAR®
Technology
Leiden, The Netherlands, 20 May 2008 - Dutch biopharma company
Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL, Swiss Exchange: CRX) today
announced a non-exclusive STAR® research license agreement with
Bioceros. The license agreement with the Netherlands based company
Bioceros covers the production of monoclonal antibodies. Financial
details of the agreement were not disclosed.
About STAR® Technology
STAR® technology is a production technology that is particularly
useful for the production of recombinant human antibodies and
proteins. It has a potentially broad application and is effective for
production of antibodies and proteins on mammalian cell lines such as
Crucell's PER.C6® human cell technology and the widely used Chinese
hamster ovary (CHO) cell line. STAR® technology contains genetic
elements, called STAR® elements, that enable stable and high-yield
gene expression important to recombinant antibody and protein
production in mammalian cells. The technology has the potential to
increase production yields, thereby reducing production costs.
About Crucell
Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL; Swiss Exchange: CRX) is a
global biopharma company focused on research, development, production
and marketing of vaccines, proteins and antibodies that prevent and
treat primarily infectious diseases. Its vaccines are sold in public
and private markets worldwide. Crucell's core portfolio includes a
vaccine against hepatitis B, a fully-liquid vaccine against five
important childhood diseases and a virosome-adjuvanted vaccine
against influenza. Crucell also markets travel vaccines, such as the
only oral anti-typhoid vaccine, an oral cholera vaccine and the only
aluminum-free hepatitis A vaccine on the market. The Company has a
broad development pipeline, with several product candidates based on
its unique PER.C6® production technology. The Company licenses its
PER.C6® technology and other technologies to the biopharmaceutical
industry. Important partners and licensees include DSM Biologics,
sanofi-aventis, Novartis, Wyeth and Merck & Co. Crucell is
headquartered in Leiden, the Netherlands, with subsidiaries in
Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Korea and the US. The Company
employs over a 1000 people. For more information, please visit
www.crucell.com.
About Bioceros
Bioceros is a biotech company focusing on pre-clinical development of
protein products, with an emphasis on monoclonal antibodies. Bioceros
has a technology platform, consisting of generation of high protein
producing CHO cell lines, process development and pre-clinical
manufacturing at 20L scale in disposable bioreactors. This is all
Quality Controlled, using state of the art serum-free culture media,
such that the generated cell lines can be used for GMP manufacturing.
In addition, Bioceros has vast experience in pre-clinical development
of monoclonal antibodies, including proof of concept and tox studies
in animals.
Bioceros uses this technology platform:
1. To develop its own pipeline of monoclonal antibody products. The
first candidate is a monoclonal antibody directed against a
variant of CD44 (CD44vRA), which is expressed in inflamed tissue
of RA patients only. This antibody was obtained from MaimoniDex
Ltd;
2. To offer services to the industry and academia, including
generation of high protein producing cell lines, pre-clinical
manufacturing at 20L scale and consultancy on pre-clinical
development of monoclonal antibodies. These services have made
Bioceros financially profitable over the last three years.
Bioceros is located in Utrecht, the Netherlands. For more
information, please visit www.bioceros.com.
Forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve
inherent risks and uncertainties. We have identified certain
important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially
from those contained in such forward-looking statements. For
information relating to these factors please refer to our Form 20-F,
as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 7,
2008, and the section entitled "Risk Factors". The Company prepares
its financial statements under International Financial Reporting
Standards (IFRS).
For further information please contact:
Media: Investors/Analysts:
Barbara Mulder Oya Yavuz
Director Corporate Communications Director Investor Relations
Tel: +31-(0)71-519 7346 Tel: +31-(0)71-519 7064
press@crucell.com ir@crucell.com
Bioceros BV:
Remco M. Brandt, M.Sc. (COO)
Yalelaan 46
3584 CM Utrecht
The Netherlands
Tel. +31 (0)30-253 7910
r.brandt@bioceros.com
