Millipore Expands Portfolio of Animal-Free Cell Culture Supplements through Partnership with Solabia
Agreement will build on Millipore’s leading position in cell culture supplement market
BILLERICA, MA. March 6, 2008 -- Millipore Corporation (NYSE: MIL), a life science leader that provides technologies, tools and services for bioscience research and biopharmaceutical manufacturing, today announced an agreement with Solabia S.A.S. to distribute animal-free hydrolysates to its biopharmaceutical customers. Under the terms of the agreement, Millipore will have exclusive rights to market and sell all seven of Solabia’s plant-derived hydrolysates, branded by Millipore under the LucraTone™ family of products, for cell culture media applications throughout the Americas, the European Economic Community, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Plant-derived hydrolysates, also known as plant-derived peptones, are a critical supplement used in the production of biologic drugs and are typically derived from soy, wheat, peas, or potatoes. Hydrolysates are a key source of nutrition for cells and help to stimulate growth and protein expression during biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
In the past, animal-derived cell culture supplements have been used to help engineered cells efficiently produce the proteins that are the basis of biologic drugs. Today, biopharmaceutical customers are demanding a greater selection of animal-free supplements to reduce their risk and ease regulatory concerns. Over the past twelve months, Millipore has significantly expanded its offering of animal-free supplements for biopharmaceutical customers.
“Our partnership with Solabia will enable us to provide customers with a broader range of animal-free cell culture supplements to optimize their upstream bioprocessing operations,†said Andrew Bulpin, Ph.D., Vice President of Millipore’s Upstream Bioprocessing Business Unit. “In addition to offering customers a stable supply of animal-free hydrolysates, we are collaborating with Solabia to launch new, innovative products specifically for the cell culture market.â€
“The cell culture market represents new and exciting opportunities for peptone applications and Solabia is pleased to join forces with a recognized leader in the biopharmaceutical industry,†said Gérard Josset, President of the Solabia Group. “Together, Solabia’s manufacturing and Millipore’s expertise can do more for the cell culture market than either company could do individually, and customers will benefit from an integrated solution.â€
Solabia has nearly 40 years of experience and is an ISO-certified global leader in hydrolysate manufacturing. The agreement between Millipore and Solabia ensures that biopharmaceutical manufacturers will have a consistent supply of animal-free hydrolysates for use in manufacturing biologic drugs and in the development of new cell lines.
Solabia manufactures animal-free hydrolysates in its Beauvais, France facility, and has invested in a separate manufacturing operation in Brazil, demonstrating their commitment to meet customers’ needs for business continuity.
About Millipore
Millipore (NYSE: MIL) is a Life Science leader providing cutting-edge technologies, tools, and services for bioscience research and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. As a strategic partner, we collaborate with customers to confront the world’s challenging human health issues. From research to development to production, our scientific expertise and innovative solutions help customers tackle their most complex problems and achieve their goals. Millipore Corporation is an S&P 500 company with more than 6,100 employees in 47 countries worldwide. For more information, please contact Millipore Tech Service at 1-800-548-7853 or 951-676-8080 or visit www.millipore.com.
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Millipore Forward Looking Statement
The matters discussed herein, as well as in future oral and written statements by management of Millipore Corporation that are forward-looking statements, are based on current management expectations that involve substantial risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements.
Potential risks and uncertainties that could affect Millipore's future operating results include, without limitation, the inability to realize the expected benefits of its agreement with Solabia or of other development, marketing, licensing and other alliances; the inability to successfully integrate acquired businesses; failure to achieve design wins into our pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers’ manufacturing design phase for a particular drug; delay, suspension or termination of a customer’s volume production; lack of availability of raw materials or component products on a timely basis; regulatory delay in the approval of new therapeutics; limitations on cash flow available for operations and investment due to increased debt service obligations; the inability to establish and maintain necessary product and process quality levels; reduced demand for cell culture products using bovine serum; competitive factors such as new membrane or chromatography technology; risks relating to our concentration of principal manufacturing operations; the inability to utilize technology in current or planned products due to overriding rights by third parties; potential environmental liabilities; conditions in the economy in general and in the bioscience and bioprocess markets in particular; foreign exchange fluctuations; reduced private and government research funding; exposure to product liability claims; and difficulties inherent in transferring or outsourcing of manufacturing operations. Please refer to our filings with the SEC, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, for more information on these and other risks that could cause actual results to differ.
About Solabia S.A.S.
The Solabia S.A.S. Group is a privately held French company specialized in the production of raw materials for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, biotechnological and nutraceutical industries. Strengthened by nearly 40 years of experience, it has risen to the status of European leader in the industrial production of peptones and protein hydrolysates of animal and plant origin. Today, by virtue of its expertise and a forward looking investment strategy, the SOLABIA Group has reinforced its global position with the creation of a second production line dedicated to the manufacture of animal origin peptones at its recently constructed production site in Brazil, with corresponding EDQM and ISO 9001 v. 2000 certification. In anticipation of the increasingly stringent requirements of the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries in terms of animal and plant separation, in 2007 the original production site in Beauvais (France) adopted a policy of non-animal tissue peptone production, also conforming to Kosher specifications. These steps all demonstrate the vision of the SOLABIA Group in a total package offering that includes peptones of the highest quality, complete traceability and conformity to the strictest standards possible.