Under the new agreement – terms of which were not disclosed – Catalent will use its GPEx technology to develop a mammalian cell line that expresses Nascent’s candidate Pritumumab antibody, which soon to enter Phase I/II trials for a variety of brain cancers.
In addition to developing the cell line Catalent will also produce supplies of the antibody for clinical trials. This dual development and production role fits with the strategy Catalent outlined earlier this year when it announced plans to reorganise and expand its biologics manufacturing capacity.
At the time Mike Jenkins, general manager of Catalent’s biologics plant, told Outsourcing-pharma.com that: “There are lots of companies offering mammalian cell culture contract manufacturing; we differ in that we offer the best mammalian cell line engineering technology. We offer solutions, not just capacity.”