Under the terms of the agreement, CMC Biologics, which is owned by Asahi Glass Compnay, will employ its proprietary CHEF1 expression platform and multi-column continuous chromatography (MCC) technology to develop and manufacture two of Trellis’ mAbs.
Trellis CEO Stefan Ryser said the mAb-based therapies aim to treat respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections and bacterial infections respectively.
Ryser said the RSV infection-focused therapy “promises to provide superior post-infection treatment over the currently marketed mAb (palivizumab) by uniquely combining antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity.”
The other candidate – TRL1068 – is designed to treat bacterial infections that are drug-resistant due to the formation of bacterial biofilms.
“By disrupting the biofilm, TRL1068 acts to resensitise bacteria to conventional antibiotics, with broad-spectrum activity spanning from medically important gram-positive to gram-negative bacterial species, including MRSA [methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus antibody] and Acinetobacter baumanni,” Ryser explained.
Cost reduction
According to Ryser, the use of CMC Biologics’ technologies will reduce costs in the downstream process.
“Through CMC Biologics’ use of MCC technology, where a reduced quantity of costly chromatography resins is required in the downstream process, CMC Biologics is able to provide Trellis a significant reduction in our development and manufacturing costs.”