iBio and Fraunhofer
partner GE to develop biotechnology manufacturing systems
9 Sept 2010
iBio, Inc., the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular
Biotechnology (CMB), and GE Healthcare, have entered an agreement to
jointly develop and globally market manufacturing systems for
biopharmaceuticals and vaccines based upon their respective proprietary
technologies. Financial terms are not being disclosed.
This new business initiative combines the value of GE
Healthcare’s capabilities and worldwide presence in life sciences,
iBio’s highly efficient iBioLaunch plant-based vaccine and
therapeutic protein manufacturing platform, and CMB’s advanced
vaccine and molecular biology expertise.
iBioLaunch plant-based technology enables the production of
vaccine and therapeutic proteins at substantially lower capital and
operating costs than are possible with other technologies. GE
Healthcare has developed solutions and offerings including those
which enable customers to build processes and facilities based on
single-use and ready-to-use technologies.
In this collaboration with iBio and CMB, GE Healthcare will
supply bioprocessing products and process expertise for integration
with the iBioLaunch platform. It will also support the development
of products based on the iBioLaunch platform and product offering.
The manufacturing solutions covered by the agreement include
product licenses, technology transfer services, design of upstream
and downstream manufacturing processes; supplies of equipment,
consumables and related validation support, construction of
buildings, facility operations and related financial services.
“This is an exciting development in GE Healthcare’s strategy to
deliver more efficient and cost-effective biopharmaceutical and
vaccine manufacturing technologies,” said Peter Ehrenheim, President
and CEO, Life Sciences, GE Healthcare.
“We expect this relationship with GE Healthcare to accelerate and
broaden market penetration for our technology through access to GE
Healthcare’s existing relationships and its skill and experience
with project implementation and process development,” said Robert B.
Kay, Chairman and CEO of iBio. “This is another implementation of
our model to affiliate and out-source with best-in-class
collaborators like GE Healthcare and CMB as the fastest and lowest
risk path to revenue growth.”
“We have already done considerable planning and work with GE
Healthcare to prepare for implementation of this agreement,” said
Dr. Vidadi Yusibov, Executive Director of CMB and Chief Scientific
Officer of iBio. “Therefore, we expect this relationship to start
quickly and continue long after its initial three-year term to
provide important results for our collective customers as we combine
GE Healthcare’s products, skills and relationships with the
technology we developed and are implementing in our new Delaware
facility.”