Joint process development between Sartorius Stedim Biotech and greenovation Biotech GmbH

greenovation.com - Major step taken towards process-scale implementation of proprietary bryotechnology developed by greenovation - In demand - Sartorius expertise in fermentation and purification process engineering

Heilbronn/ Göttingen – Oktober 12, 2007. Sartorius Stedim Biotech GmbH, headquartered in Goettingen, and greenovation Biotech GmbH in Heilbronn, Germany, agreed to collaborate on the project of process-scale implementation of the innovative, plant-based bryotechnology developed by greenovation.

In the past years, greenovation Biotech and Sartorius Stedim Biotech have been working together successfully on developing fermentation processes in the field of bryotechnology. Now, greenovation Biotech GmbH is planning the process-scale application of its proprietary technology for producing complex proteins from moss cells. The next step in this collaboration is that Sartorius Stedim Biotech will deliver to greenovation the first GMP-compliant photobioreactor for bryotechnological applications as early as within the next few months.

Unlike other established production technologies that utilize mammalian cells, bryotechnology makes it possible to fully simplify the process engineering involved with drug manufacturing. Since moss cells are relatively undemanding, they can be cultivated using relatively simple culture medium compositions, which significantly reduces the complexity involved in controlling the process. Moreover, the use of bryotechnology will result in a significant reduction in investment costs and ultimately in more affordable biopharmaceutical medicines.

The aim of the cooperative agreement between Sartorius Stedim Biotech and greenovation Biotech is to further promote the development of this promising and innovative technology.

“This collaboration with the application specialists at Sartorius Stedim Biotech will enable us to further accelerate the pace of transferring the benefits of our unique proprietary bryotechnology to process-scale applications,“ said Andreas Kranzusch, Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director of greenovation Biotech GmbH. “By combining Sartorius’s expertise on the one hand together with our edge on this technology on the other hand, we are able to offer our customers significant added value.“

For Sartorius Stedim Biotech, this project represents an exciting merging of innovative technologies and many years’ experience in bioreactor development and production.“ The special requirements of the GMP environment pose the real challenges to process-scale implementation of bryotechnology,“ said Hans-Peter Casel, managing director of Sartorius Stedim Systems GmbH. “Particularly the wealth of experience the Sartorius Group has accumulated in both the laboratory and process sectors enables us to reliably transfer new technologies to process-scale applications, such as bryotechnology developed by our partner greenovation.“

Bryotechnology by greenovation:
greenovation's core competence is efficiency enhancement and the production optimization of pharmaceutically potent glycoproteins in closed photobioreactors. Its production platform is based on greenovation’s proprietary bryotechnology (bryophytes are mosses). By specific genetic modification of the moss cells, scientists can adapt them into the desired therapeutic protein, for example, antibodies against cancer, exactly according to a predefined building plan. By further genetically modifying the moss cells, the proteins are refined to enhance their performance – a process called glycoengineering. This procedure not only involves applying the building plan for the protein, but specifically optimizes the attached plant-specific sugar molecule to meet the customer's specifications. Because the proteins often do not have a specific effect or perform a targeted function until after a particular sugar molecule has been attached, greenovation has created a globally unique tool.

Media Contacts:

Sartorius Stedim Biotech
Dominic Grone; Corporate Communications
Sartorius Corporate Administration GmbH; D-37070 Goettingen, Germany;
phone: +49(0)551/ 308-3324; fax: +49(0)551/ 308-3572
e-mail: dominic.grone@sartorius.com; http://www.sartorius.com

greenovation Biotech GmbH
Andreas Kranzusch; CFO/Managing Director;
Weipertstr. 8-10; D-74076 Heilbronn, Germany;
phone: +49(0)761/ 470990; fax: +49(0)761/ 47099190
e-mail: akranzusch@greenovation.com; http://www.greenovation.com

A profile of greenovation Biotech:
greenovation Biotech GmbH is a service provider and supplier to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Its portfolio of services ranges from contract research and development to contract production. The core business of greenovation Biotech GmbH consists of the innovative manufacture of high-efficiency pharmaceutical proteins with modified sugar structures (glycoproteins) contained in moss cells as well as the manufacture of protein prototypes and the provision of ready-to-use production organisms.

The privately held biotechnology company, headquartered in Heilbronn, Germany, with research facilities in Freiburg, was incorporated in September 1999 as a spin-off of the University of Freiburg. Venture capital investors are L-EigenkapitalAgentur, Karlsruhe, Mediport Venture, Berlin, the SeedGruppe, Tuebingen and Zukunftsfonds, Heilbronn.

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. For next generation processes, Sartorius Stedim Biotech focuses on single-use technologies and added-value 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 sales companies in Europe, North America and Asia, Sartorius Stedim Biotech enjoys a worldwide presence. Its key manufacturing and R&D location is in Germany. The company employs over 2,200 people, and in 2006 earned pro forma sales revenue of more than 360 million euros.

This release was published on openPR.