Danish pharmaceuticals company Novo Nordisk has enlisted the aid of the USA's Morphotek to improve the manufacturing process for one of its marketed protein therapeutics.
Morphotek has developed a technology called 'morphogenics' that is used to alter the genetic profile of an organism in order to create a new strain with a new set of biological characteristics. For example, the company can manipulate microorganisms to produce specific traits that are useful in biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
These traits may be a means of improving the efficiency of the production process, but can also enhance the activity of the resulting molecule, according to Morphotek. Novo has not divulged the identity of the drug involved in the collaboration.
Philip Sass, the US firm's chief executive, said that the new deal was "a validation of the usefulness of our platform to aid in the rapid development of high-titre manufacturing cell lines from preclinical through to commercial phase."
Earlier this year, Morphotek signed a research agreement with Abgenix to use its related Morphodoma technology to improve the manufacturing of one of Abgenix' fully human monoclonal antibody product candidates.
The Morphodoma technology is a platform process that can rapidly evolve antibody producer cell lines to yield antibodies with increased binding affinity and specificity, as well as for generating sublines with enhanced yields that are suitable for scaleable commercial manufacturing.