Novozymes Biopharma, part of Novozymes A/S, a world leader in bioinnovation, has recently  announced a collaboration with Janssen Research & Development, LLC (Janssen). The agreement will enable Janssen to evaluate  Novozymes Biopharma’s engineered albumin-based Veltis technology for potential drug candidates.

"We are delighted to be working with Janssen on this important collaboration," says Svend Licht, senior director, Novozymes Biopharma. He adds, "The Veltis half-life extension technology can be linked to a broad range of drug candidates and the agreement is central in our continued strategy to demonstrate its potential to facilitate greater control across many therapeutic fields."

Novozymes' Veltis technology represents a series of engineered human albumins which, in combination with a drug candidate, offers the potential for tunable control of the therapeutic half-life. The extended half-life of the albumins opens the door towards reducing the dosing frequency of drugs from daily to every two weeks or monthly.

Svend Licht continues, "The Veltis platform is a transformative technology that offers real potential to revolutionise the delivery of treatments. Working with partners across a wide-range of medical conditions, we are continuing to highlight the benefits of the solution in improving the lives of patients."

Together with this new collaboration, Novozymes Biopharma announces a new brand name for its half-life extension platform. Now known as Veltis, the technology enhances the pharmacokinetics of peptide and protein drugs, potentially reducing dosing frequency of therapeutics to  once-per-month, while contributing additional benefits through decreased dosage levels and reduced toxicity.