PRINCETON, New Jersey and PARIS, March 27 /PRNewswire/ --
- Laureate to Manufacture Cytheris' Lead Product Candidate, INTERLEUKIN-7, currently in clinical trials for treatment of HIV, HCV and cancer
Laureate Pharma, Inc., a full-service biopharmaceutical development and protein production company, announced today that it has entered into a cGMP contract manufacturing agreement with Cytheris SA, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on research and development of new therapies for immune modulation. According to the agreement, Laureate will manufacture Cytheris' lead product candidate, Interleukin-7 (IL-7), a fully glycosylated recombinant human protein and critical growth factor for immune T-cell recovery, for use in ongoing international clinical trials currently being conducted for treatment of HIV, HCV and cancer. Terms and conditions of the agreement were not disclosed.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080131/NETH020LOGO )
Recombinant human Interleukin-7 (r-hIL-7) is a critical growth factor for immune T-cell recovery and enhancement. Clinical investigations conducted on more than 75 patients in Europe, the U.S. and Canada have suggested the potential of r-hIL-7 to expand and protect CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells.
"We are delighted that Cytheris has selected us again as their CMO, to manufacture IL-7 in support of their expanded clinical trial program. This is a testimonial to our successful partnership with our clients and our effort to achieve their total satisfaction in our ability to meet their manufacturing needs," said Robert J. Broeze, Ph.D., President & CEO of Laureate. "We will work with the Cytheris team very closely and help them realize the greatest potential of their IL-7 development and production program."
"As we move towards large scale production of our IL-7 biotherapeutic, we are pleased to continue our strong working relationship with Laureate Pharma," said Michel Morre, DVM, President and CEO of Cytheris. "With Laureate's demonstrated skill in successful transfer of process technology, we look forward to continuing to work together in the process scale-up, engineering and clinical material production of IL-7 for our ongoing clinical trials investigating multiple indications."
About Laureate Pharma, Inc.
Laureate Pharma is a full-service biopharmaceutical development and protein production company located in Princeton, New Jersey. Laureate Pharma offers superior bioprocessing services that accelerate new products from development through production. Laureate provides a wide range of specialized services from process design and development to full-scale cGMP production, purification, aseptic filling, testing, validation, analytical services, and regulatory support. Laureate is focused on two active segments of the biopharmaceutical industry: monoclonal antibodies and recombinant protein products. Laureate Pharma, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE: SFE) (http://www.safeguard.com). For more information, contact Michael Cavanaugh, Vice President Sales, Marketing, and Business Development at +1-609-919-3400, or info@laureatepharma.com or visit http://www.laureatepharma.com.
About Cytheris SA
Cytheris SA is a privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on research and development of new therapies for immune modulation. These drugs aim at reconstituting and enhancing the immune systems of patients suffering from cancer, chronic viral or bacterial infections such as HIV and HCV, or lympho-depleting treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The company operates from its headquarters and laboratories in Issy-les-Moulineaux, a suburb of Paris, and its U.S. subsidiary in Rockville, Maryland. For more information, please contact Andrew Lloyd, Andrew Lloyd & Associates: (allo@ala.com), Gilles Petitot (gilles@ala.com) at +33-1-5654-0700 or visit http://www.cytheris.com.
Web site: http://www.laureatepharma.com http://www.safeguard.com http://www.cytheris.com
Michael Cavanaugh, Vice President Sales, Marketing, and Business Development for Laureate Pharma, Inc., +1-609-919-3400, info@laureatepharma.com; or Andrew Lloyd of Andrew Lloyd & Associates for Cytheris SA, allo@ala.com; or Gilles Petitot for Cytheris SA, +33-1-5654-0700 , gilles@ala.com / Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080131/NETH020LOGO, AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org, PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
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