BIA Separations signs agreement to commercialise novel elution technology

Agreement gives BIA Separations access to proprietary technology to better preserve integrity, infectivity and potency of immunoaffinity-purified viral vectors for gene therapy.

The University of Zagreb will provide BIA Separations with access to proprietary technology, while BIA Separations will market the technology to biopharma, biotech and life science industries globally. As part of the agreement, research teams from both organisations will collaborate to develop follow-on technologies to support the purification of viruses and viral vectors for research and clinical use.

One of the key disadvantages of the immunoaffinity chromatography is partial degradation of viral particles as a result of low pH conditions required for the elution. The technology overcomes this by using a concentrated solution of specifically selected amino acids and their salts, maintaining a neutral pH (6.0 – 8.0), which results in the highly effective elution from immunoaffinity chromatographic support of intact and functional viruses for gene therapy application.

BIA Separations will commercialize the technology through sales of the its core separations products and services, or as individual license agreements.

Aleš Štrancar, CEO of BIA Separations commented: “BIA Separations monolithic column technology is now well established and following this success we are focussed on providing customers with a “one-stop-shop” for the manufacture of gene therapy vectors, vaccines, exosomes, DNA/RNA and any novel complex biopharma product. To achieve fully integrated upstream and downstream processing with robust in-process control we are collaborating with other leaders in the industry to access the latest technologies and products. This agreement with the University Zagreb is one of a number currently in the pipeline and supports our ultimate goal.”

Professor Miljenko Šimpraga, Vice-rector for Innovation, Technology Transfer and Communication at the University of Zagreb added: “The University of Zagreb is pleased to see solutions developed by our researchers contributing to improvements in medical biotechnology, and being brought closer to users through our work with innovation-oriented industry partners such as BIA Separations. As a research university, this is an important achievement which is fully aligned with our aim to create a positive impact on society.”