Aragen Bioscience Announces Licensing Agreement for Protein Production Technology


Aragen Bioscience, Inc. recently announced it has entered into an agreement with ProteoNic Biotechnology BV for the commercial use of ProteoNic’s 2G UNic recombinant protein production technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Aragen gains the rights to apply this technology to the development of recombinant cell lines with significantly enhanced commercial production levels compared to current methods. In combination with the value-added services offered by Aragen, access to the technology will allow Aragen’s clients to increase manufacturing efficiency and reduce cost of goods for recombinant biologicals.

ProteoNic’s proprietary second-generation mammalian expression technology is based on the synergistic effect of novel genetic elements that exert a powerful positive effect on recombinant protein production levels as well as on stability of expression. The technology has been demonstrated to be broadly applicable to various protein targets, multiple host cell lines, as well as selection systems. Importantly, it can be combined with most other production technologies for increased effectiveness.

“We have performed evaluations of ProteoNic’s 2G UNic technology for a number of products in stable and transient protein expression settings. To date, we have consistently obtained a significant increase in cell culture productivity. We believe that the combination of this technology and Aragen’s services will provide significant value to our current and future clients,” said Oren Beske, PhD, Chief Operating Officer at Aragen Bioscience.

“Based on Aragen’s extensive client base and experience in cell line generation, this relationship will enable us to make available our technology more broadly than before, while maintaining the highest standards of execution. Companies outsourcing preclinical drug development to Aragen will now have access to ProteoNic’s technology for generating high-performance cell lines,” added Victor Schut, Chief Business Officer at ProteoNic.
Under the terms of the agreement, Aragen will offer cell line development services including ProteoNic technology for production of biologicals for commercial use under a fee for service relationship. The ProteoNic technology is offered without a royalty.

Aragen Bioscience, Inc. is a privately held contract research organization with offices and laboratories in the San Francisco Bay Area. Aragen Bioscience offers a diverse set of services for the discovery, characterization, activity assessment and early development of biologic and diagnostic products. For more information, visit www.aragenbio.com.

ProteoNic Biotechnology BV is a privately held company with offices in Leiden, the Netherlands, and Boston, USA. The company offers technology and services for the generation of cell lines with greatly improved biologics production characteristics, including production levels and stability. The company commercializes its proprietary 2G UNic technology through licensing and partnership arrangements. For more information, visit www.proteoninc.com.