NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Agilent Technologies, a University of Rouen laboratory, and the Bioprocessing Technology Institute in Singapore have signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of tools to analyze biologics and vaccines.
BTI is developing methods of producing and analyzing biologics in animal cells, it said, and the Glyco-MEV lab at the University of Rouen specializes in producing molecules used in biologics, including antibodies, growth factors, and recombinant proteins, in plant systems. As part of the deal, Agilent will provide technological expertise resulting in the development of sensitive, high-throughput methods "that are particularly adapted to the analysis of biopharmaceuticals," BIT said. The institute is part of Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology, and Research.
Rudolf Grimm, Agilent's director of science and technology and manager of collaborations in the Asia-Pacific region, added that the collaboration will enable researchers to optimize glycan analytical workflows on his firm's HPLC-Chip/MS platform.
The Glyco-MEV lab also will become Agilent's glycomics reference site in Europe, while BIT will be the firm's glycomics reference site in Southeast Asia.
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"With increasing use of biologics to treat human diseases, and with more biosimilars coming to market in the next few years, it is timely for BTI to develop novel technologies that would improve the characterization and analysis of protein-based drugs," BTI Executive Director Lam Kong Peng said in a statement.