Under the terms of the license agreement Pfizer will have the right to use the ACE System internally to engineer cell lines for product research, development and manufacturing.
The new deal is an expansion of the collaborative agreement announced on December 16, 2004, under which Chromos is using the ACE System to engineer cell lines to express a Pfizer protein. Pfizer will continue to support this on-going work, Chromos said in its release.
Chromos’ proprietary ACE System is a chromosome-based cellular engineering system. Chromos has developed the ACE System to rapidly generate high-expressing manufacturing cell lines for production of recombinant proteins, including monoclonal antibodies.
Among the unique features of the ACE System is that it allows “auditioning” of several cell lines for optimal product yields and quality in a short time. Chromos has several partners in its cell line engineering business in addition to Pfizer, including Centocor/Johnson & Johnson and Cambridge Antibody Technology.
“We are pleased by Pfizer’s decision to license the ACE System,” said Alistair Duncan, president and CEO of Chromos. “In addition, the agreement provides us with an immediate cash infusion and demonstrates that we are executing our strategy of building the revenue stream from our cell line engineering business.”
The financial details of the license agreement were not disclosed.