DowpharmaSM Announces Agreement with Pfizer

DowpharmaSM , a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Pfizer Inc to develop a cell line using PfÄ“nex Expression TechnologyTM, a Pseudomonas-based technology from Dowpharma.Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will fund efforts at Dowpharma to evaluate the production of a Pfizer therapeutic protein using PfÄ“nex Expression TechnologyTM, as well as the use of a Dow proprietary solvent extraction technology. Additional financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. “This agreement demonstrates the interest of the biopharmaceutical industry in producing therapeutic proteins using an expression system that delivers higher yields and process technologies that can reduce the overall cost of goods for biotherapeutics” said Nick Hyde, business director, Dowpharma. “In the cases that we have tested, PfÄ“nex consistently outperforms other commercially available microbial expression systems such as E. coli.”PfÄ“nex Expression TechnologyTM is built around specially modified strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria that increase cellular expression while maintaining critical solubility and activity characteristics of recombinantly expressed therapeutic proteins. “This agreement allows Pfizer, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, to leverage the resources and technologies of the world's largest chemical company.  We believe our customized solutions and full spectrum of services will continue to meet and exceed the needs of our customers,” said Hyde.