Sigma-Aldrich Corporation's custom manufacturing services business unit, SAFC Commercial has won commercial sales and licensing contracts with two leading Asian biopharmaceutical companies for the purchase of Chozn, their off-the-shelf cell line production platform. The contracts feature the Chozn Platform system as a key component of each customer's global biotherapeutic commercialization strategy.

The Chozn Platform consists of the Chozn GS-/- CHO cell line and an optimized set of cGMP-produced, chemically defined (CD) media and feeds designed specifically for the cell line to maximize the production of monoclonal antibodies and other r-proteins. Powered by Sigma-Aldrich's CompoZr Zinc Finger Nuclease (ZFN) technology, SAFC's cGMP-produced and tested Chozn cell line was the first commercially available glutamine synthetase (GS) knockout CHO line on the market.

The Chozn GS (-/-) platform provides a best-in-class stable cell line that results in faster, simpler selection and scale-up of high-producing manufacturing clones, saving weeks of development. In combination with the ZFN technology, Chozn provides a gateway from development through commercialization.

In addition to the cell line, media and feed, SAFC provides extensive user support. This includes working with the customer on protocols from transfection through to scale-up in bioreactors, as well as providing comprehensive cell line safety testing and development history packages. In addition, the lean CD media and feed system allows for tunable product quality.

"We are seeing a great deal of interest in our Chozn Platform in Asia as numerous pharmaceutical companies in the region are looking to enter this market," said Dr Kevin Kayser, Director of the Chozn Platform for SAFC. "Going forward, we expect to see increased engagement throughout the region based on our ability to accelerate upstream development timelines to positively impact the potential profitability of biotherapeutic products."

Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company whose biochemical, organic chemical products, kits and services are used in scientific research, including genomic and proteomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and as key components in pharmaceutical, diagnostics and high technology SAFC manufacturing.