Biolex Inc has signed a research collaboration with Centocor Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, to examine the feasibility of producing three proteins using Biolex' patented Lemna Expression System. Biolex is a private, venture capital-backed biopharmaceutical company located in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina. Biolex possesses a transformational plant-based system for the development of human therapeutic proteins, a large and rapidly growing market.

"Our agreement with Centocor, a major research-driven biopharmaceutical company, represents another important collaboration for our Biolex technology," said Jan Turek, President and CEO of Biolex. "The strategic combination of Centocor's capabilities in monoclonal antibody (mAb) discovery and development and Biolex' advanced protein expression system is a promising step towards our goal to accelerate the availability of innovative drugs to the market."

Under the collaboration, Biolex will be responsible for the expression of Centocor's three therapeutic proteins in the Lemna Expression System. Centocor has the option to have Biolex scale up and manufacture the proteins following the feasibility phase. The financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.

The foundation of Biolex' technology is its proprietary Lemna Expression System, coupling the ideal natural characteristics of the green aquatic plant, Lemna, with advanced genetic engineering and protein recovery methods. The Lemna Expression System uniquely combines the most desired qualities of mammalian cell culture, the current gold standard among existing expression systems (clonal replication, fast growth, high protein content, secretion of the target protein into the media, a contained and controlled environment), with the most sought after characteristics in next generation systems (speed of scale-up, significantly reduced capital requirement, low operating costs).