Selexis SA and Turgut Expand Biosimilar Development Relationship by Signing Two Commercial License Agreements
Selexis SA and Turgut Pharmaceuticals (Turgut Ilaclari A.S.) announced that they have signed two commercial license agreements (CLAs) through which Turgut will leverage Selexis’ SUREtechnology Platform and SURE CHO-M Cell Line for the development of two high-quality biosimilar antibodies: a checkpoint inhibitor for the treatment of certain cancers and a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. With the addition of these CLAs, the companies are now working together to develop multiple biosimilar products in cancer and inflammatory diseases. The companies announced the signing of the most recent previous CLAs in December 2017.
“In just under three years, we’ve signed five commercial license agreements collaborating with the Turgut team to advance its pipeline of high-quality biosimilars. Our technology and cell line has proven impactful in biosimilar development, which is incredibly important given the tremendous need to provide patients with greater access to life-changing biologics,” said Marco Bocci, PhD, DPharm, Selexis vice president, licensing and business development. “Turgut shares our passion for introducing patients to advanced medicines more quickly and cost-effectively. The success we’ve seen with Turgut to date fuels our collaboration and we are excited to continue to support their efforts to bring biosimilars to the market under these new agreements.”
Selexis’ proprietary SUREtechnology Platform facilitates the rapid, stable, and cost-effective production of virtually any recombinant protein, including biosimilars, and provides seamless integration of the biologics development continuum, spanning discovery to commercialization. Utilizing the SUREtechnology Platform, Selexis has successfully generated numerous biosimilars, including marketed products, that have glycan profiles matching originator products.
“These two products are groundbreaking treatments that can extend accessibility to a much larger patient population,” said Serdar Alpan, MD, PhD, head of Biotechnology Group, Turgut Pharmaceuticals. “As a cell line development expert and well-established partner of Turgut’s, Selexis’ tools and technologies are giving us the competitive edge we need to forge ahead with our biosimilar programs. We look forward to achieving progress in these programs.”
The Selexis SURE CHO-M Cell Line is a proprietary high-performance mammalian cell line that is derived from CHO-K1 cells and used for the production of therapeutic recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies. The growth and production properties of the Selexis SURE CHO-M Cell Line are well defined, and the feed strategy has been optimized, allowing for faster and more efficient scale-up to bioreactors. Therapeutics that are generated using Selexis SURE CHO-M cells are in both clinical trials and marketed products.