BAC BV, the leading provider of antibody-based affinity purification technology and its collaborative partner GE Healthcare, to develop innovative purification media for the production of novel types of biopharmaceuticals has been awarded the “Collaboration of the Decade Award - Downstream Processing” at the BioProcess International Awards 2012.

Since 2006, BAC and GE Healthcare have worked closely together, developing products aimed at improving the efficiency of biopharmaceutical manufacturing. With a focus on the development of affinity resins for highly efficient purification, the collaboration has led to the commercial launch of seven products which are now used worldwide in the manufacture of potentially life-saving medicines such as coagulation factors, various antibody formats, biosimilars and gene-therapy vectors. Worldwide demand for biopharmaceuticals is set to increase, driven by an ageing population, rising obesity levels and the global effort to reduce the incidence of vaccine preventable diseases.

Laurens Sierkstra, CEO of BAC, said, “We are delighted to see our joint efforts to enable the development of the latest biotherapeutics recognised by those in the industry. Our on-going collaboration with GE Healthcare has been highly productive and responsive to the needs of end-users.”

Commenting on the award, Dr Nigel Darby, vice president of BioTechnologies, GE Healthcare Life Sciences added, “Collaborations between companies with complementary technologies and expertise are vital in making the advances that will help us tackle global challenges such as the increasing burden of disease and cost of healthcare. With global demand for cost effective biotherapeutics set to rise, collaborations like ours that deliver innovative supporting technologies will play an increasingly significant role.”

BAC discovers, develops and manufactures separation and affinity purification products for use across the value chain of biopharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing.