He told Outsourcing-pharma that Cobra will undertake cell adaptation, process development and production of a candidate Adenovirus-based medicine on behalf of a European biotechnology firm.
Although further details of the contract and the product are being kept confidential, Ridley-Smith was able to reveal that the project will employ Cobra’s proprietary virus purification platform.
He explained that the technology “is based on a two step chromatographic process, with a packed bed ion-exchange capture step, followed by a size exclusion polishing step.”
“This process has a number of advantages over the traditional gradient purification; firstly the yields obtained are as much as five fold higher, secondly it…[is] less operator dependent and removes the need to pool batches of material.”
He added that Cobra’s expertise with viral products had won it the contract, explaining that the firm has made more than 30 GMP batches for customers including GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), GenVac, Replikun and Oncolytics.
Europe’s sound scientific base
Ridley-Smith also said that: “The European biological sector is buoyant despite the current financial difficulties. There is a very sound scientific base in Europe which is providing the clinical research products and potential market leaders of the future.”
He went on to suggest that, unlike the small molecule market where the need to cut costs has seen production shift to cheaper international destinations, “the substantial and specialist expertise in Europe” would help it maintain its position.