ProBioGen AG, a contract development and manufacturing organization, has signed a non-exclusive commercial multi-product licensing agreement with Novartis on its GlymaxX Antibody Glyco-Engineering technology. Novartis will apply the technology for manufacturing of select ADCC  (Antibody-Dependent Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity) activity-enhanced antibodies in clinical and pre-clinical development.

The GlymaxX technology, developed by ProBioGen, prevents the addition of the sugar “fucose” to the N-linked antibody carbohydrate part by antibody-producing cells. The absence of fucose enhances ADCC. The GlymaxX^® technology is based on the introduction of a gene for an enzyme which deflects the cellular pathway of fucose biosynthesis. The technology can be applied to novel and already existing antibody producer cell lines, as well as to entire production platforms, without negatively affecting their productivity.

Source: ProBioGen