Protein production

Since 2008, Crucell has collaborated with Royal DSM, a global life sciences and materials sciences company, to develop and license PER.C6® technology for the manufacture of monoclonal antibodies and other therapeutic proteins. Scientists at our joint-venture PERCIVIA PER.C6®  Development Center in Massachusetts, USA have achieved a record antibody titer of 27 g/L at harvest.

In January 2010, PERCIVIA scientists reported the development an enhanced cell settling (ECS) technique for clarification of very high-density cell culture harvests. The technique was demonstrated using PER.C6® cells and the XD® cell culture process, in which both cells and product are retained in a stirred-tank bioreactor. ECS rapidly reduces cell mass while significantly reducing impurities.

PER.C6® technology has tremendous potential to reduce the costs of manufacturing therapeutic proteins while increasing yield, leading to more affordable treatments. Proteins based on this human cell line may also have enhanced biological properties compared to animal-derived products, possibly making them more effective.

We expect innovation in this field to be enhanced by the transformation of the PERCIVIA PER.C6®  Development Center into a full biopharmaceutical company, as announced in September 2010. The center will focus on development of PER.C6®-based biobetter proteins and monoclonal antibodies, as well as global licensing of the PER.C6® human cell line for production of monoclonal antibodies and other proteins for third parties.

XD® is a registered trademark of DSM.