Johnson Matthey and Intrexon Collaborate on Production of Peptidebased Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT), a global leader in science that enables cleaner air, improved health and more efficient use of natural resources and Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON), a leader in the engineering and industrialisation of biology are pleased to announce that they have entered in to an exclusive collaboration to focus on the development of fermentation processes to produce peptide-based active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
Peptide-based APIs are used as highly effective treatments in numerous therapeutic classes. However due to their structural complexity, peptides are costly and difficult to produce, requiring specialised equipment and reagents and lengthy synthetic sequences with low chemical yields. To address this, Intrexon will focus on strain generation, utilising its proprietary microbial hosts, initial fermentation and downstream isolation and purification. Subsequently, Johnson Matthey (JM) will be responsible for product scale-up and commercialisation, ultimately developing much more efficient and effective processes for peptide-based drugs.
“Peptides are an important class of therapeutic agents and JM is pleased to be collaborating with the Intrexon team in using their innovative biologically-based technologies to access these technically challenging APIs” commented Robert MacLeod, Chief Executive of JM, “Through their strain engineering capabilities, we believe there is significant potential for more efficient production of these important compounds.”
“As a leading provider of complex APIs and pharmaceutical services, JM is an ideal partner for this programme” said Randal J. Kirk, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Intrexon. “Their expertise and capacity, combined with Intrexon’s powerful platform for the identification, design and engineering of production cells, should provide significant potential for more efficient production of such high-cost active ingredients”.
Issued by: Johnson Matthey Plc
5th Floor, 25 Farringdon Street, London, EC4A 4AB United Kingdom
About Johnson Matthey
Johnson Matthey is a global leader in science that enables a cleaner and healthier world. With over 200-years of sustained commitment to innovation and technological breakthroughs that improve the function, performance and safety of our customer’s products. Our science has a global impact in areas such as low emission transport, pharmaceuticals, chemical processing and making the most efficient use of the planet’s natural resources. Today more than 13,000 Johnson Matthey professionals collaborate with our network of customers and partners to make a real difference to the world around us.
For more information, visit www.matthey.com
Inspiring science, enhancing life
About Intrexon
Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON) is Powering the Bioindustrial Revolution with Better DNA™ to create biologically-based products that improve the quality of life and the health of the planet. The Company’s integrated technology suite provides its partners across diverse markets with industrial-scale design and development of complex biological systems delivering unprecedented control, quality, function, and performance of living cells. We call our synthetic biology approach Better DNA®, and we invite you to discover more at www.dna.com or follow us on Twitter at
@Intrexon, on Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Media enquiries:
For more information regarding Johnson Matthey, contact:
Kate Whelan
Notch Communications
+46(0) 70 238 11 49
kate.whelan@notchcommunications.co.uk
For more information regarding Intrexon Corporation, contact:
Investor Contact:
Christopher Basta
Vice President, Investor Relations
Tel: +1 (561) 410-7052
investors@intrexon.com
Corporate Contact:
Marie Rossi, Ph.D.
Director, Technical Communications
Tel: +1 (301) 556-9850
publicrelations@intrexon.com
