Arecor, CPI and FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies collaborate

Arecor, CPI and FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies collaborate to apply smart formulation approaches in the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals under a grant awarded by Innovate UK

The aim of the project is to achieve a step change in biopharmaceutical yield and quality by improving product stability during downstream processing (DSP). The program will focus on utilising Arecor’s innovative and proprietary formulation technology platform. Arecor is the lead party in the consortium and has a proven track record of applying its formulation technology to develop superior liquid stable biopharmaceutical products including therapeutic proteins, peptides and novel format antibodies. In addition, the industrial bioprocessing experience and expertise of FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies and CPI, will be employed to design predictive scaled down models to enable the implementation of Arecor’s formulation platform to DSP and subsequent scale-up to large scale manufacturing. With a unique combination of expertise across the consortium, this collaboration is expected to deliver a novel formulation platform that can be applied to routine biopharmaceutical manufacturing to deliver significant improvements in the performance of DSP. Specific benefits  being sought  are improvements in yield, overall protein stability and quality.

The platform will be applied to reduce the production costs of biopharmaceuticals, which will ultimately reduce the cost of therapeutics to healthcare providers. This aligns with the strategic objective of the IBC scheme to enhance the UK’s position as a global leader in this sector.

Quotes from Senior Executives

Arecor: Sarah Howell, Arecor CEO said “The application of Arecor’s innovative biopharmaceutical stabilisation platform to manufacturing is an obvious next step in the evolution of the application of the technology. Given our success in enabling a broad range of superior stable liquid biotherapeutics, we are confident in applying our technology platform to deliver significant improvements to DSP manufacturing and we are excited to have the opportunity to work with our consortium partners under this programme”.

CPI: Dr Chris Dowle, Director of Biologics at CPI said “We are delighted to be working with Arecor and FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies on this project. By utilising CPI’s knowledge and expertise along with our new National Biologics Manufacturing Centre at Darlington, we will help Arecor develop and demonstrate the application of their formulation platform in downstream processing. This is one of six projects which CPI is involved in as part of the IB Catalyst Funding, re-affirming CPI as one of the collaborators of choice within the sector.”

FUJIFILM:  Dr Mark Carver, Senior VP Research, Development and Innovation at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies commented “We anticipate that this project will enable us to improve the downstream processing of most classes of biologics, in particular monoclonal antibodies, and lead to improved stability of the drug substance we produce for our customers.  We are delighted to leverage Arecor’s expertise in the field of biologic drug formulation, and utilise CPI’s centre of excellence in the development of leading edge biopharmaceuticals.

Company Summaries

Our open innovation model enables clients to develop products and prove processes with minimal risk. We provide assets and expertise so our customers can demonstrate the process before investing substantial amounts of money in capital equipment and training. New products and processes can be shown to be feasible; on paper, in the lab and in the plant before being manufactured at an industrial scale.

By utilising our proven assets and expertise companies can take their products and processes to market faster. There is no down time in production as all of the process development is completed offsite and our technology transfer and engineering teams can help companies to transfer the product or process into full scale production at speed.