ID Biomedical has developed a proprietary and scaleable method to manufacture protein antigens, the active ingredients of the Company's subunit vaccines. The recombinant protein cloning and expression system, referred to as ID-CX5, has been used to efficiently produce large quantities of highly purified proteins. Demonstrations of high-level yield and consistency in production have enabled ID Biomedical to transfer the technology to the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) production of the protein antigens that comprise the subunit StreptAvax vaccine. Proteins produced from this platform have been integrated into the Company's current Phase II Clinical Trial of the StreptAvax vaccine.
The Company has tested the ID-CX5 platform technology in the high yield production of several different recombinant proteins, including the pilot manufacture of a recombinant Plague antigen. Results from these studies proved to be a key competitive advantage in the Company's successful bid to become the GMP supplier of the subunit antigen component of a Plague vaccine being developed by Dynport Vaccine Corporation. ID Biomedical has filed U.S. and international patent applications to protect the technology.
"The development of this proprietary manufacturing technology for the commercial scale production of the active ingredients in subunit vaccines is very important to ID Biomedical," stated Anthony Holler, ID Biomedical's Chief Executive Officer. "This technology adds tremendous value to our products, particularly the StreptAvax vaccine, as it gives ID Biomedical an important tool in the process of scaling up manufacturing to commercial production levels. These types of proprietary assets will become an increasingly important factor in our overall commercialization and partnering strategies."