ProMetic Licenses Plasma Therapeutics To Generium For Russian Market
By Cyndi Root
ProMetic Life Sciences has licensed its plasma purification system and derived pharmaceuticals to Generium. The company announced the deal in a press release, stating that Generium intends to build a plasma purification facility and produce therapeutics for Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The global partnership and development agreement calls for co-development of two coagulation factors. Generium will conduct clinical trials in Russia and will share that data with ProMetic.
ProMetic and Generium Agreement
The agreement calls for ProMetic to license its proprietary Plasma Protein Purification System (PPPSTM) technology to produce plasma-derived biopharmaceuticals, including training and technical support. Generium intends to build a facility in Russian to manufacture the therapeutics in a plasma processing capacity of up to 600,000 liters per year. The company has already begun construction and expects the site to be operational in 2017.
After the manufacturing site is complete, the two companies have agreed to work together as contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) in a complementary manner on specific products. ProMetic has also agreed to supply the affinity resins for the manufacturing process. Generium has agreed to pay ProMetic an upfront fee of $6 million and to make further payments related to milestones up to $17 million as well as royalties on sales.
Dr. Alexander Shuster, Chairman of the Board of Generium, also commented on the new partnership, "The competitive advantage provided by ProMetic's state of the art and proprietary manufacturing platform will allow us to further consolidate our position as Russia's leading biopharmaceutical company. Moreover, our strategic alliance shall leverage our core competencies in hemophilia, both in terms of product development and commercial activities.”
PPPSTM
ProMetic’s PPPSTM system targets and removes proteins from plasma samples. These high-value proteins are harvested in volume with ProMetics Mimetic Ligand adsorbent technology. The system allows investigators to discover and identify new biotherapeutics while reducing inefficiencies with other systems, such as the Cohn precipitation process. ProMetic is headquartered in Laval, Canada where it focuses on plasma-derived therapeutics, bioseparations, and small-molecule drug development.