Millipore Corporation Signs License Agreement with Astellas

Millipore Corporation has announced it has entered into a worldwide, non-exclusive license agreement with Astellas Pharma, Inc. to use Millipore's UCOE™ (Ubiquitous Chromatin Opening Element) technology in its research programs.

The license will enable Astellas to produce its drug targets, such as antibodies in mammalian cells, by generating higher protein yields. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"We value Astellas’ commitment to the UCOE technology," said Andrew Bulpin, Vice President of Millipore's Upstream Bioprocessing Business Unit. "This license is another example of how we can help pharmaceutical and biotech companies efficiently develop biologic drugs."

The process of manufacturing biologic drugs such as monoclonal antibodies and other recombinant proteins often begins with growing mammalian cells in a bioreactor. These cells act as "factories" and produce the proteins that form the basis of biologic drugs.

According to Millipore, its UCOE technology helps biopharmaceutical companies identify which cells will be the most effective in producing proteins during large-scale manufacturing. By isolating these stable and highly productive cell lines, biopharmaceutical manufacturers can improve the yield and consistency of their manufacturing processes. The cost of manufacturing recombinant protein-based drugs makes quick identification of cell lines a critical factor in improving productivity.

Millipore's UCOE technology, which was originally licensed from the laboratory of Dr. Michael Antoniou at King's College, London, can be used for the simple generation of proteins at small scale for drug discovery and research, as well as for identifying stable and highly productive cell lines suitable for larger scale manufacturing.