Horizon Enters in Cell Line Licensing Agreement with LakePharma

Horizon Discovery Group plc Enters Bioproduction Cell Line Licensing Agreement with LakePharma, Inc.

Horizon Discovery Group plc, the international life science company supplying research tools and services that power genomics research and the development of personalized medicines has announced that its Bioproduction business has signed a license agreement with LakePharma, Inc., a contract research organization (CRO). The terms of the license cover commercial use of a genetically-engineered Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell line, developed by Horizon and adapted to manufacturing conditions by LakePharma.

According to Horizon Discovery, protein therapeutics represent a significant share of the top 50 drugs globally and are increasingly present in developmental pipelines. The provision and licensing of bioproduction cells for their manufacture, however, can be cost prohibitive and is often tied to long-term revenue-based licensing terms. Horizon says that its flexible licensing model with simplified terms and no associated royalties allows any organization with ambitions in the biopharmaceutical marketplace, including small to medium size biotechs and Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs), to access state of the art bioproduction cell lines.

In line with its strategic priorities, Horizon’s approach allows any organization to access its state of the art bioproduction cell lines under reasonable and flexible licensing terms.

Dr Darrin M Disley, Horizon’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “The license agreement with LakePharma, the first of its kind, serves as recognition and validation of our approach to developing novel bioproduction cell lines. Until now, cell line development has been a rate-limiting step for improving upstream bioprocessing. With precise gene editing we are able to provide a key step in the path toward delivering next generation biological medicines.”

Dr. Fan Chen, Director of Bioprocessing, LakePharma, said:“The license agreement with Horizon allows us to offer a superior expression cell line to our customers, providing better value to them, while the one-time fee allows us maximal flexibility to utilize the cells to their best effect. I am delighted that the hard work we put in to adapting these cells has been reflected in their commercialization by Horizon.”