GlycodExpress™ Technology
During the next decade, the technologic and economic success of a biotechnology platform dedicated to the production of biomolecules for therapeutic purposes, will depend on 3 main challenges.
The glycosylation challenge
Up to date, the wide majority of technologies used for therapeutic protein production are based on complex systems such as animal cell lines. Then, the question of the glycosylation control is still unresolved. A strict genetic control of glycosylation process is the key to a powerful production platform.
The production cost challenge
Therapeutic recombinant proteins are usually derived from mammalian cells (CHO cell line). As the process is time-consuming, and also very expensive due to complex reagents and culture media, there is an urgent need to find an alternative way to significantly reduce the costs of production, while maintaining high quality levels.
The production capacity challenge
Current production facilities, mainly dedicated to CHO, are becoming saturated, due to a growing demand of biotechnology companies, wishing to secure production facilities to produce their own molecules. This production capacity shortage should lead to a significant unsatisfied demand, representing 25% of the potential production market by 2012.
A new and innovative production platform, matching with quality and cost issues, will be the answer. In this context, the goal of Glycode is to provide to its customers a unique and powerful service in the field of protein glycosylation. The patented GlycodExpress™ technology relies on a collection of glycoengineered yeast strains optimized for production of recombinant proteins, and which glycosylation process has been genetically humanized. Then it becomes possible to produce in yeast every kind of glycoproteins, carrying glycan structures, since basic Man8-9, up to most complex (with peripheral galactose or sialic acid residues).
GlycodExpress™, a Glycan-on-Demand™ technology, offers to customers the choice of protein glycosylation, and the opportunity to optimize native structure, half-life time and therapeutic power.
Glycode expertise can provide to biotech and pharma companies numerous tailor-made solutions, from gene to purified protein, or outsourcing (license sales).
- Engineering strains to produce glycoprotein(s) (antibodies, IL, growth factors, enzymes…),
- Lab scale production and purification,
- Out-licensing proprietary strains.
To date, our most humanized strains produce glycoproteins with Gal2GlcNAc2Man3GlcNAc2[Fuc].
In 2010, strains with sialylation abilities will be available, please contact us for more information.
