iBio Inc. and Kanematsu Chemicals Corp., part of Kanematsu Corp., have entered into a collaboration agreement under which Kanematsu Chemicals Corp. will market the novel iBioLaunch platform in Japan. 

 

The collaboration combines iBio’s plant-based expression system and expertise for rapid, reliable and economical development and production of biological vaccines and therapeutics, with the marketing reach and regional expertise of the life science group from Kanematsu Chemicals Corp. 

 

“The pharmaceutical business is one of the core businesses in which we are expecting further expansion, and the collaboration with iBio will lead Kanematsu Chemicals Corp. to its success,” said Kazuyuki Matsunaga, president of Kanematsu Chemicals Corp. “iBioLaunch has great potential to solve existing issues in the development and production of these products for the Japanese and export markets. We are very excited to start introducing this excellent technology to the Japanese pharmaceutical industry.” 

 

Japan commands 9% of global biologics sales (led only by the U.S. and the EU), a global market that is expected to grow to over $220 billion by 2019, according to TriMark Publications. 

 

Biologics can be categorized in three main groups: monoclonal antibodies, other therapeutic proteins, and vaccines. The iBioLaunch platform has been validated for production of each of these biologics categories. The iBioLaunch platform can enable companies producing either novel biologics or biosimilars to achieve competitive advantages over other expression systems due to its various attributes, including lower costs and scalability. 

 

“This agreement is an important part of our strategy to commercialize iBio’s proprietary technologies through collaboration with world-class partners,” said Robert Erwin, iBio’s president. “Together, Kanematsu Chemicals Corp. and iBio expect to bring the benefits of the unique enabling features of the iBioLaunch platform to the most innovative companies and important biologic products in the Japanese pharmaceutical industry.” 

 

Date: August 14, 2014

Source: iBio