Bayer Licenses ProteoNic Biotechnology's 2G UNic® Platform to Enhance Recombinant Protein Production

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) has learned that on March 28, ProteoNic Biotechnology BV announced that it had licensed its 2G UNic technology to Bayer, a global leading pharmaceutical company, to facilitate the production of recombinant protein drugs.

ProteoNic Biotechnology BV, established in 2004, is a biotechnology company possessing a suite of eukaryotic production platforms designed to enhance recombinant protein production levels. Headquartered at the Bio Science Park in Leiden, the Netherlands, the company also maintains an office in Boston, United States. Furthermore, ProteoNic was the recipient of the 2010 Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Award.

ProteoNic’s core business is the production of biological proteins and industrial enzymes, with a focus on developing products and services dedicated to eukaryotic production platforms for medical fungal, yeast, plant, insect, and mammalian expression hosts. The company commercializes its proprietary 2G UNic technology through licensing or collaborations with other companies.

Recombinant proteins refer to specific proteins with commercial value that are produced by reprogramming cultured cells through the insertion of new genes into the cellular genome. In this process, genes are transcribed into mRNA, which then serves as a template for protein production. ProteoNic has identified DNA elements that, when incorporated into recombinant protein expression vectors, help enhance translation rates. These Translation Enhancing Elements (TEEs) possess specialized functions in eukaryotic production platforms, including mammalian cells, yeast, and most fungal systems. Based on these TEEs, ProteoNic has developed its proprietary 2G UNIC technology. This technology can enhance messenger RNA translation, thereby increasing the protein yield per RNA molecule. Furthermore, ProteoNic’s 2G UNIC technology can be combined with other protein expression technologies to improve their performance.

The 2G UNic technology enhances transcription and translation rates through the combinatorial effects of novel genetic elements, which exert a robust positive impact on increasing recombinant protein production levels and improving expression stability. Furthermore, ProteoNic provides contract services for expression vector construction and cell line or strain development to support the implementation of the 2G UNic technology. This technology significantly boosts protein yield and manufacturing flexibility while reducing production costs.

It is reported that after Bayer evaluated the technology, the two companies reached an agreement on recombinant protein production levels and product characteristics. At the “Cell Line Development and Engineering Europe 2019” conference held in Vienna from April 2 to 4, Dr. Anke Mayer-Bartschmid of Bayer will provide a detailed presentation on the technology.

Frank Pieper, CEO of ProteoNic, stated, “ProteoNic’s customers can apply 2G UNIC technology either independently or in combination with other protein expression technologies to observe improvements in the productivity of commercially relevant cell lines. We believe there is significant room for improvement in current expression systems, and 2G UNIC technology can make a substantial contribution to the economic viability of production for innovators and biosimilar products. We will continue our efforts to unlock the maximum biopharmaceutical production potential for our customers.”

In addition to the 2G UNic technology license, ProteoNic also supports the implementation and transfer services for its protein yield enhancement elements and vectors. Notably, on February 5, Eli Lilly and Company obtained a license for this technology from ProteoNic.

Bayer HealthCare, a global pharmaceutical giant headquartered in Berlin, Germany, boasts a history spanning over 150 years and possesses core competencies in the healthcare and agriculture sectors. As Germany’s largest industrial conglomerate and a Fortune Global 500 company, Bayer offers more than 10,000 products, including aspirin, which is widely hailed as the “Drug of the Century.” The company operates 750 production facilities across 200 sites on six continents, employs 120,000 people, and maintains 350 subsidiaries, with a presence in nearly every country worldwide.

(Compiled by Li Chengping)