Horizon and Hisun Pharmaceuticals partner on gene-engineered bioproduction cell line

Horizon Discovery, a leading provider of cell line genome engineering products and services, today announced it has entered into an agreement with Hisun Pharmaceuticals (Hisun) to optimize Horizon’s newly engineered CHO bioproduction cell line for commercial use. Hisun will be using Horizon’s glutamine synthetase (GS) double knock-out cell line for use in therapeutic antibody manufacturing. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Horizon has engineered the CHO cell line using its GENESIS™ gene editing technology, providing the most precisely engineered GS double knock-out available. The precision afforded by GENESIS results in an optimal final genotype, with complete control over the desired genomic alterations and with no unwanted off-target effects.

GS is a critical enzyme in the metabolism of the amino acid L-glutamine which is often used as a selection marker in the production of recombinant proteins. GS-negative CHO cell lines have proven to be a valuable resource for stringent selection of high producing lines and accelerating the development of cell lines within the Bioproduction industry, offering significant advantages over traditional methods that use an expensive and toxic chemical inhibitor of GS.

Haibin Wang, Senior Vice President, Hisun Pharmaceuticals, said: “Hisun’s competitive edge comes from our focus on pioneering technology and quality product. Horizon’s gene engineering technology is unique in the level of precision it can deliver, and therefore offers great advantages in quality and efficiency for industrial cell line engineering. Partnering with forward-looking leaders in their field, such as Horizon, is a key part of our strategy to provide innovative and quality products to our patients.”

“We are delighted to be working with Hisun on the final development stage for this cell line, the first of several Horizon projects aimed at GMP production of therapeutic proteins,” commented Dr Brian Burke, Business Development Manager at Horizon. “Cell line development has yet to match the gains made in media and feed technology development.  Precision gene editing will be a key driver for cell line development, and by selective partnering with leaders like Hisun, Horizon intends to accelerate this process.”

For further information please visit: www.horizondiscovery.com/what-we-do/bioproduction

 
About Horizon Discovery

Horizon Discovery Limited (Horizon) is a leading provider of research tools to support translational genomics research and the development of personalized medicines. The Company’s proprietary rAAV gene-editing technology, GENESIS™, is industry leading. Using GENESIS, Horizon is able to alter any endogenous gene sequence of a human or mammalian cell-line quickly, reliably and without introducing unwanted and confounding genotypes and/or phenotypes.

Horizon has applied GENESIS to create over 500 X-MAN™ cell lines, the world’s first source of genetically-defined and patient-relevant human cell lines, accurately modeling the disease-causing mutations found in cancer patients. These ‘patients-in-a-test-tube’ are being used by academic and industry leaders to identify the effect of individual or compound genetic mutations on drug activity, patient responsiveness, and resistance, leading to the successful prediction of which patient sub-groups will respond to currently-available and future drug treatments. This enables the design of shorter, more focused, and less expensive clinical trials, ultimately providing the tools to identify the ‘right drugs’ for the ‘right patients’ based upon the unique genetic mutations that define their disease.

In addition to the X-MAN cell lines, Horizon provides GENESIS and X-MAN™ derived products and services, with industrial application in: bio-pharmaceutical process optimization; clinical diagnostic development; drug discovery & development; and the provision of reference standards for genomic-based clinical research platforms.

GENESIS and X-MAN are registered trademarks of Horizon Discovery Limited.
 

About Hisun Pharmaceuticals

Founded in 1956, the mission for Zhejiang HISUN Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (stock code 600267) hereinafter called “HISUN”) is one of “To be persistent in pharmaceutical innovation for humans’ well-being”.  The company's vision is to become “a widely respected global pharmaceutical provider”.  It focuses on the integration of pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) with production resources in order to provide its global customers with outstanding products and services.  To date, over 40 of the company's products have passed certification by the FDA (U.S.), EDQM (EU), TGA (Australia), KFDA(Korea), etc., and are sold to more than 30 countries worldwide. To learn more about Hisun, please visit http://www.hisunpharm.com

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Contacts:

At Horizon:
Brian Burke PhD
Business Development Manager
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 655 580
Email: b.burke@horizondiscovery.com

Media enquiries:
Katie Odgaard
Zyme Communications
Tel: +44 (0)7787 502 947
Email katie.odgaard@zymecommunications.com

At Hisun:
Zhang Wei
Tel: 86-571-8527-8141
Email: stock600267@hisunpharm.com
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