Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc.,a clinical-stage, privately held, biotechnology company, has entered into research and commercial agreements with BioWa, Inc. and Lonza to use their POTELLIGENT CHOK1SV Cell Line for the research, development and production of multiple proprietary antibodies in FivePrime’s oncology pipeline.

POTELLIGENT CHOK1SV is a host cell line for manufacturing recombinant antibodies that combines the power of BioWa’s engineered glycosylation POTELLIGENT Technology with the advantages of Lonza’s proprietary GS Gene Expression System, which includes the industry-leading CHOK1SV cell line.

“We are pleased to offer the POTELLIGENT CHOK1SV Cell Line as a key component to therapeutic antibody development,” said Janet White, Head of Lonza Development Services. “We look forward to supporting FivePrime’s R&D and clinical programmes with this new strategic collaboration.”

“We are pleased that the value of our POTELLIGENT Technology continues to be recognized by innovative companies such as FivePrime for their biotherapeutic programs in oncology,” said Yasunori Yamaguchi, PhD, president and CEO of BioWa.

“The combination of the clinical validation seen with other POTELLIGENT antibodies and the track record of the GS cell line were key to our decision to select this system to enhance the potential for therapeutic efficacy of our emerging pipeline of antibodies in oncology,” said Michael Kavanaugh, MD, senior vice president, Research and Development of FivePrime.

The POTELLIGENT CHOK1SV Cell Line retains the desirable features of a high-producing cell line (robust, high-yielding, scalable), with the advantage of a proven bioprocess platform for the CHOK1SV cell line. Antibodies produced by this cell line exhibit enhanced antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and can exert potent cytotoxic effects even when their target antigen is low. In addition, they work in whole blood and retain all other desirable features of common antibodies.

The POTELLIGENT CHOK1SV cell line is available under a license to Lonza customers as an option in cell line construction service offering.

The GS Gene Expression System, which is owned and licensed by Lonza, is used for the production of therapeutic recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies.

FivePrime is a clinical-stage, privately held, biotechnology company with a strong pipeline of antibodies and ligand traps for cancer, autoimmunity and respiratory diseases.

BioWa is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd., Japan’s leading pharmaceutical and largest biotech company, and is the exclusive worldwide licensor of the AccretaMab platform.