ProteoNic announces broadening of GigaGen's rights to 2G UNic™ Technology

LEIDEN, Netherlands, Nov. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ProteoNic BV, a leading provider of premium vector technology and services for efficient production of biologics, today announced the extension of its license agreement with GigaGen, a biotechnology company advancing transformative antibody drugs for immune deficiencies, infectious diseases and checkpoint resistant cancers, and a subsidiary of Grifols.

Under the agreement, GigaGen gains non-exclusive, worldwide commercial rights for application of ProteoNic's technology platform to the development and manufacturing of its mono- and polyclonal antibody drug candidates. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

ProteoNic's protein expression technology, 2G UNic™, improves recombinant protein production levels across a range of mammalian host cells, selection systems and protein targets. This is achieved via the combined effect of novel genetic elements, which together exert a positive effect on recombinant protein production levels. The technology increases production levels of complex proteins, which are difficult to produce, including bi-specifics and fusion molecules and levels of products already in the multiple g/L range. Additionally, 2G UNic™ can be used to boost performance of other expression-enhancing technologies.

Carter Keller, senior vice president at Grifols and head of GigaGen, commented, "Utilizing ProteoNic's technology has had substantial impact on the production levels of our poly- and monoclonal antibody drugs. This extended license agreement enables us to develop our product candidates with higher yields and improves overall cost and efficiency of manufacturing."

Frank Pieper, CEO of ProteoNic, added, "We are pleased that we can contribute to the successful development and production of GigaGen's recombinant antibody drugs by providing broad access to our technology."

About ProteoNic

ProteoNic is a privately held company with offices in Leiden, the Netherlands and in the Boston area, USA. The company offers technology and services for the generation of cell lines with greatly improved biologics production characteristics, including production levels and stability. The company commercializes its proprietary 2G UNic™ technology through licensing and partnership arrangements. For more information, see www.proteonic.nl.

About Gigagen Inc. 

GigaGen is advancing transformative antibody drugs for immune deficiency, infectious diseases and checkpoint resistant cancers by leveraging industry-leading, single-cell technologies. Its novel technology platforms uniquely capture and recreate complete immune repertoires as functional antibody libraries. This approach has enabled the creation of first-in-class recombinant polyclonal antibody therapies for the treatment of infectious diseases. In addition, GigaGen's lead oncology asset, GIGA-564, is an anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody that has demonstrated improved anti-tumor efficacy in vivo through a unique mechanism of action. For more information, please visit www.grifols.com or www.gigagen.com.

For more information, please contact:

ProteoNic
Mark Posno, PhD
Vice President Business Development
T: +1 617 480 8016
E: posno@proteonic.nl

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