OREANDA-NEWS. GE Healthcare today announced that Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics has selected GE Healthcare’s innovative MabSelect™ SuRe™ LX high-affinity chromatography media for the manufacture of monoclonal antibodies.

Hideaki Nomura, President and CEO, Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics, commented: “We are excited to be working with GE Healthcare’s Life Sciences business to incorporate their latest chromatography media into our processes to help ensure reliable, cost-competitive manufacture.  Selecting MabSelect SuRe LX is part of our strategy to position Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics as a leader in the rapidly expanding biosimilar market.”

Worldwide demand for biopharmaceuticals such as monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) is increasing rapidly, driven largely by the development of new therapies for the treatment of cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.  GE Healthcare’s MabSelect SuRe LX is an innovative chromatography medium designed to help manufacturers increase the production efficiency of these vital medicines.    Economic pressure on production processes has led to dramatic increases in antibody titers in mammalian cell culture, which in turn can lead to costly downstream processing bottlenecks.   The high binding capacity of MabSelect SuRe LX allows large amounts of sample to be loaded onto the purification column, helping reduce processing times as well as allowing current columns and hardware to be used instead of having to invest in new equipment when processes are scaled up.

Olivier Loeillot, General Manager Asia Commercial BioProcess, GE Healthcare’s Life Sciences business, said: “As part of our commitment to enable the delivery of high-quality, affordable healthcare for more people, we are constantly looking to improve the reliability, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of biopharmaceutical manufacturing by developing new or improved tools and technologies. We are delighted that Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics has recognised the increased process efficiency and resultant cost savings which MabSelect SuRe LX media can help deliver.”

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services to meet the demand for increased access, enhanced quality and more affordable healthcare around the world.  GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter - great people and technologies taking on tough challenges. From medical imaging, software & IT, patient monitoring and diagnostics to drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies and performance improvement solutions, GE Healthcare helps medical professionals deliver great healthcare to their patients. 

About FUJIFILM KYOWA KIRIN BIOLOGICS

FUJIFILM KYOWA KIRIN BIOLOGICS was launched in March 2012 to bring solutions to the dilemma between the high efficacy and high prices of biologics by offering biosimilars, approved subsequent entry biologics. Employing an innovative production process to address cost reduction, the goal of this joint venture is to provide excellent quality products by the amalgam of proprietary technologies and know-how of Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. accumulated through the research, development and manufacture of biopharmaceuticals, and of the various technologies of FUJIFILM Corporation such as in engineering, production, quality control and analyses cultivated through its wide-ranging business fields.