Sartorius Stedim Biotech and G-Con Manufacturing : Global Collaboration

January 18, 2012 

• SSB and G-Con combine core competences for visionary production processes 
• Collaboration will support faster and more flexible facility construction and shortened time to market

Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB) and G-Con have agreed to a global collaboration to offer highly advanced and flexible production platforms for the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry. The new product line will leverage G-Con Manufacturing’s novel modular, mobile clean-room “pods” and Sartorius Stedim Biotech’s well-established broad single-use and reusable product portfolio to create a totally integrated production process platform. SSB has incorporated its products into unit operations for media/buffer preparation, seed fermentation, cell cultivation and harvesting, ultra-diafiltration, membrane chromatography and viral clearance for biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing. Combining SSB’s technology with G-Con’s modular, scalable and flexible pod platform will provide the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry with an unparalleled set of cost-effective, “plug and play” tools for next-generation manufacturing facilities...

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...A profile of Sartorius Stedim Biotech

Sartorius Stedim Biotech is a leading provider of cutting-edge equipment and services for the development, quality assurance and production processes of the biopharmaceutical industry. Its integrated solutions covering fermentation, filtration, purification, fluid management and lab technologies are supporting the biopharmaceutical industry around the world to develop and produce drugs safely, timely and economically. Sartorius Stedim Biotech focuses on single-use technologies and value-added services to meet the rapidly changing technology requirements of the industry it serves. Strongly rooted in the scientific community and closely allied with customers and technology partners, the company is dedicated to its philosophy of “turning science into solutions”.

Headquartered in Aubagne, France, Sartorius Stedim Biotech is listed on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris. With its own manufacturing and R&D sites in Europe, North America and Asia and a global network of sales companies, Sartorius Stedim Biotech enjoys a worldwide presence. Its key manufacturing and R&D site is in Germany. The company employs nearly 2,600 people, and in 2010 earned sales revenue of 432.9 million euros... Sartorius Stedim Biotech's Press Release -

Alizé Pharma licenses its ASPAREC® therapy for Treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) to EUSA Pharma

Lyon, France, February 2, 2012 - Alizé Pharma II, a drug development company focused on oncology and metabolism and part of the Alizé Pharma group, announced the signing of a licensing agreement with EUSA Pharma for ASPAREC®, a new L-asparaginase product currently in Phase I clinical development for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Pursuant to the agreement, EUSA Pharma will be responsible for the development and worldwide commercialization of ASPAREC. In return, Alizé Pharma has received an upfront payment, and will be entitled to additional regulatory milestone payments and royalties on sales. The companies have not disclosed further financial information.

ASPAREC is Alizé Pharma’s PEGylated recombinant L-asparaginase derived from Erwinia chrysanthemi. It is being developed as a treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in patients with hypersensitivity to E. coli-derived L-asparaginase. Preclinical data indicate that ASPAREC is both longer acting and less immunogenic than the currently available Erwinia chrysanthemi derived L-asparaginase product...

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...About Alizé Pharma 

Alizé Pharma is a group of companies specialized in the development of innovative biopharmaceutical drugs, proteins and peptides, for the treatment of metabolic diseases and cancer. Its management is made up of a team of drug development experts and a board of directors offering wide international experience. Since its inception in 2007, the group has raised 5 M€ with private and institutional investors. The first of the two entities of the Group, Alizé Pharma SAS, is dedicated to AZP-01, a peptide derived from unacylated ghrelin, currently at the preclinical stage of development for the treatment of Type II diabetes and other metabolic and cardiovascular indications. The second entity, Alizé Pharma II SAS, is focused on the development of ASPAREC® (AZP-02), a new PEGylated recombinant L-asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and currently in Phase I clinical development... Alizé Pharma's Press Release -

Pherecydes Pharma : DGA funding for evaluating the use of bacteriophages against infected, antibiotic resistant burns

January 18, 2012 Paris, France - French defence procurement agency invests EUR 900,000 towards a Pherecydes Pharma managed EUR 1.2-million project -

Pherecydes Pharma, a biotechnology company specialized in the research and development of lytic bacteriophages for both therapeutic and diagnostic purposes, announces that it has received funding of EUR 900,000 from France’s General Directorate for Armaments (Direction Générale de l’Armement - DGA) to part-finance the PACOBURNS project. This project is set up to explore the possibility of using bacteriophages to combat bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics, especially skin infections.

The funds invested by the DGA fall within the framework of its RAPID program. The scheme supports dual innovation by small and medium-sized companies through providing financial assistance for projects that have great technological and commercial potential, are innovative in terms of industrial research, and have both military and civilian applications. The Institute of Genetics and Microbiology of the University of Paris XI and the Armed Forces Institute of Biomedical Research (Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées - IRBA) are also involved in this project...


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About Pherecydes Pharma

...Pherecydes Pharma SA specializes in the research and development of lytic bacteriophages (or phages) for both therapeutic and diagnostic applications. The company provides innovative and adaptable solutions to combat multi-resistant bacteria, through developing mixtures of natural phages and their accelerated in vitro evolution. Pherecydes Pharma is the only company currently that has been able to harness this evolution technology, allowing a head start on any given bacterium.

Due to the unique knowledge of the company in the characterization and rapid isolation of natural lytic phages, Pherecydes Pharma has developed a large bank of bacteriophage mixtures for combating infections that are resistant to antibiotics, which have steadily increased in number since the 1980s. In particular, it possesses the world’s largest collection of phages against escherichia coli and is also working on pseudomonas and staphylococci, three bacteria that alone represent over 50 per cent of known infections in industrialized countries...[PDF] Pherecydes Pharma's Press Release -