Lonza and Crucell N V entered into a co-exclusive manufacturing, sales and distribution agreement related to the Permexcis cell culture medium developed by Crucell for PER.C6 cells.

Under this agreement, Lonza will manufacture the medium, and in addition will market and sell it on a global basis. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

The Permexcis medium is a chemically defined cell culture medium that does not contain human- or animal-derived components. Permexcis medium was developed for the cultivation of PER.C6 cells and has been designed for use in the large-scale manufacture of biopharmaceutical products including vaccines. This novel medium has proven, in a comparison study performed by Crucell, to provide higher viral vaccine product yields in PER.C6 based manufacturing processes than some of the current available media for PER.C6 cells on the market.

"We are pleased to have entered into this agreement with Lonza. The agreement demonstrates the power and robustness of our PER.C6 technology. Over 60 companies and organizations have already selected our PER.C6 technology to develop their own products across a wide range of therapeutic areas. We are proud that Lonza will manufacture the Permexcis cell culture medium and in addition will market and sell it globally" said Ronald Brus, Crucell's chief executive officer.

Crucell's PER.C6 technology platform has been developed for the large-scale manufacture of biopharmaceutical products such as recombinant proteins including monoclonal antibodies.

Lonza is one of the world's leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries.

Crucell N V is a global biopharma company focused on research, development, production and marketing of vaccines, proteins and antibodies that prevent and treat primarily infectious diseases.