ARTES receives French Research Tax Credit (CIR) Accreditation

ARTES Biotechnology GmbH today announced that it has just obtained governmental approval for ‘Crédit d’Impôt Recherche’ (CIR) for a three-year period from the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR).

The French R&D tax credit CIR gives French companies the ability to claim tax relief on 30% on all generated costs outsourced to ARTES’ R&D services.
“We are pleased to receive this accreditation and to be approved as valid and reliable R&D provider from the French Ministry”, Dr Michael Piontek, Managing Director of ARTES. “It allows our customers in France to benefit from tax relief of their R&D expenses committed to us and it will help us to tie up our relationships with our present clients in France and to install new collaborations”.

ARTES Biotechnology is globally active as R&D company specialized in developing biopharmaceutical and vaccine production processes.
The company operates worldwide from its 850m2 S1 facilities in Langenfeld, from where it also offers cell line engineering based on yeast (Hansenula polymorpha) and bacterial (E. coli and Bacillus) expression platforms, lab scale up- and downstream process development, supply of non-GMP bulk material (API) for activity and toxicity tests and technology transfer to cGMP facilities and scale-up support.

ARTES was part of a successful international consortium

EU Research Project Nano3Bio sums up:
Promising achievements for winning future raw materials

Since fossil raw materials are rapidly running out, their substitution by renewable resources is becoming increasingly important. In this process, the biological production of raw materials will have to play a leading role. The international project Nano3Bio, including ARTES Biotechnology has contributed to master this challenge. Nano3Bio’s main goal was the biotechnological production of so-called chitosans, which can be used as raw materials for medicine, agriculture, cosmetics and other application fields. The European Commission supported the research project with almost nine million Euros over the past four years. Recently, the consortium held its final conference ‘The Future of Chitosans’ in Hyderabad, India.
“We’re proud of Nano3Bio’s outcomes. In important fields, the consortium achieved or prepared breakthroughs from basic research to biotechnological applications”, says Professor Dr. Bruno Moerschbacher, biologist at the University of Münster and coordinator of the project.

More about Nano3Bio and on the future of chitosans: www.nano3bio.eu

ARTES received next grant of patent for METAVAX®

ARTES is pleased to announce a new EU based grant of patent for their well-proven virus-like-particle (VLP) technology platform METAVAX®.

“The new patent integrates exactly in our existing patent portfolio and will further strengthen our technology offer”, said Dr. Melanie Piontek, Business Development Director of ARTES. “In combination with our proprietary yeast expression technology our antigen presentation platform METAVAX® is an excellent and unique tool for the development of effective, safe and affordable vaccines.”

Currently, the platform METAVAX® is used in several clients’ projects as well as in several in-house research projects. Within the “Plurivax” project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the 8th EuroTransBio call, ARTES enhances its VLP based vaccine platform METAVAX® and develops processes especially suited for the veterinary applications.

“Our intellectual property strategy is to provide multiple layers of protection for our technology platform portfolio. With this new patent, we have additional reinforcement to our existing patent estate,” said Dr. Melanie Piontek.

ARTES joins WAVESCATTER

A consortium of 5 companies and the Fraunhofer-Institut für Lasertechnik ILT, aim to develop under the name of WAVESCATTER („Winkelauflösende Wellenleiter-Streulichtsonde für die Inline-Prozessanalytik“) a new kind of scattered light sensor for precise inline particle analytic.

The project will be funded for a three year period by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the program „ Digitale Optik«.

Partner of the consortium are:

  • Hellma GmbH & Co. KG, Müllheim (Konsortialführer)
  • ABS Gesellschaft für Automatisierung, Bildverarbeitung und Software mbH, Jena
  • ARTES Biotechnology GmbH, Langenfeld (Rheinland)
  • LightFab GmbH, Aachen
  • HiTec Zang GmbH, Herzogenrath.

 

PR in German language:

Mit Photonen im Trüben messen

Vielfältige chemische und biotechnologische Prozesse sind mit dem Entstehen, dem Wachstum oder der Veränderung von Partikeln verbunden. Eine detaillierte Beobachtung von Partikelgröße und Partikelanzahl im laufenden Prozess ohne zeit- und arbeitsaufwändige Probenentnahme soll die Überwachung und Steuerung solcher Prozesse in Echtzeit zukünftig vereinfachen oder überhaupt erst ermöglichen. Im Projekt »WAVESCATTER« haben sich dazu vier Unternehmen und das Fraunhofer-Institut für Lasertechnik ILT zusammengeschlossen. Ziel ist die Entwicklung einer winkelauflösenden Wellenleiter-Streulichtsonde für die präzise Inline-Partikelanalytik.

Wirkstoffe für Medikamente werden heute zum großen Teil durch spezielle Mikroorganismen in Bioreaktoren produziert, wo die Wachstumsprozesse von besonderer Bedeutung sind. Die Mikrobenkultur wird zusammen mit einer geeigneten Nährlösung in den Bioreaktor gebracht, vermehrt sich dort und produziert die gewünschte Substanz wie z.B. Insulin, den Lebensretter für Diabetiker. Die Mikrobenkultur im Bioreaktor darf auf keinen Fall mit anderen Mikroorganismen verunreinigt werden. Dies gelingt am besten, wenn der Reaktor hermetisch abgeschlossen wird, bis der Produktionsprozess beendet ist. Die Herausforderung liegt in der ständigen Überwachung des Prozesses für einen optimalen Ablauf, um beispielsweise die Nährstoffzugabe an das Wachstumsverhalten der Mikroorganismen anzupassen. Eine regelmäßige Probennahme mit nachfolgender Offline-Analyse der Mikrobenkultur ist nicht nur arbeits- und zeitintensiv, sondern stellt auch eine mögliche Kontaminationsquelle für den Bioreaktor dar. Bislang werden Proben aus dem Reaktor entnommen und verdünnt, um z.B. die Größenverteilung und Anzahldichte der Mikroorganismen messen zu können. Mit der im WAVESCATTER Projekt anvisierten Technologie wird eine inline-fähige Partikelanalytik entwickelt, die ohne Probenverdünnung auch in optisch dichten Lösungen Partikelgrößen zwischen wenigen 10 nm und mehreren µm in Echtzeit bestimmbar macht. Dadurch werden völlig neue Möglichkeiten zur rückgekoppelten Überwachung und Steuerung von chemischen und biotechnologischen Produktionsprozessen ermöglicht. Eine Kontamination des Fermenters durch unerwünschte Fremdorganismen kann frühzeitig erkannt werden. Qualitätssicherung und Prozessausbeute können so verbessert werden. Damit die Probenentnahme aus einem Bioreaktor nicht mehr notwendig ist, hat sich das Konsortium in diesem Verbundprojekt zusammengefunden. Ziel ist die Entwicklung einer optischen Tauchsonde, welcher durch eine winkelaufgelöste Streulichtmessung die Größenverteilung von Partikeln z.B. in Biofermentern bestimmen kann. Die Lichtführung in der Sonde erfolgt mit Hilfe von Wellenleitern, die Lichtdetektion mit einer CCD / CMOS Zeile. Aus dem winkelaufgelösten Streulichtsignal können über die Partikelgrößenverteilung Informationen zu Zellgröße und Teilchenzahldichte im Inneren des Bioreaktors gewonnen und zur Prozesssteuerung verwendet werden. Eine Fremdbesiedelung durch unerwünschte Mikroorganismen kann frühzeitig erkannt werden. Perspektivisch ist auch die Ermittlung von wichtigen zellbiologischen Parametern möglich (Lebend- / Totzellunterscheidung, Erkennung von intrazellulären Inklusionskörpern).

Nach erfolgreichem Projektabschluss steht der Prozessanalytik in den Bereichen Arzneimittelherstellung und Lebensmittelproduktion ein neues Werkzeug zur Verfügung, mit dem Prozessparameter einfacher, flexibler und umfassender in Echtzeit und ohne Probenahme erfasst werden können. Weitere Einsatzgebiete können chemische Polymerisationsreaktionen, Kristallisationen oder Dispersionsprozesse sein.

Das Projekt „Winkelauflösende Wellenleiter-Streulichtsonde für die Inline-Prozessanalytik – WAVESCATTER“ wird vom BMBF im Rahmen der Photonik Forschung Deutschland, Förderinitiative »Digitale Optik«, unter dem Förderkennzeichen 13N14176 mit insgesamt 2,1 Mio € gefördert.

BIO International Convention 2017

Meet us at the BIO International Convention taking place in San Diego, CA, USA  June 19 -22.

Michael Piontek, Managing Director at ARTES, will be present in the One-on-One Partnering. Contact us previously for organizing a personal meeting or drop us a notice via the partnering system.

We look forward to meeting you!

 

www.convention.bio.org/2017

15 Years ARTES Biotechnology

Toady, ARTES has 15 year anniversary. In 2002 at May 10th Michael Piontek founded ARTES as R&D company, specialized in developing yeast cell lines for recombinant protein production. In 15 years ARTES has positioned itself as valued partner for the pharmaceutical and life science industry and it is now specialized in developing whole biotechnology production processes.

ARTES attends European Animal Health Investment Forum

ARTES will head for London’s elite Mayfair district in February to take part in the ‘Dragons Den’ of veterinary medicine, the European Animal Health Investment Forum.

This will be ARTES’ first participation in the high prestige investment networking event.

ARTES will be represented by its Managing Director, Dr. Michael Piontek, who will be talking in particular about the development of its innovative proprietary vaccine development platform, METAVAX®.

METAVAX®advantages

METAVAX® generates vaccines based on the WHO-recommended yeast organism Hansenula polymorpha.

ARTES Biotechnology also has expertise in human and animal vaccine development and is collaborating with animal health leader Boehringer Ingelheim to develop  a vaccine based on Hansenula polymorpha expression, combined with the METAVAX® platform

Self-adjuvanting vaccines

“We look forward to attending the European Animal Health Investment Forum for the opportunity to network with CEOs, business developers and scientists from veterinary pharmaceutical companies interested in development of highly immunogenic vaccines,” commented Dr. Piontek.

“This is a great opportunity to find new contacts, refresh old ones and show how we have developed an economical approach for low-cost mass production of safe, effective and self-adjuvanting vaccines,” said Dr. Piontek.

ARTES will also use the meeting to share knowledge about its VLP technology for antigen presentation and other vaccine technologies.  It will also exchange information on its specialist cell lines and process development for bio-pharmaceutical products.

Meet us at the Animal Health Investment in London, 22nd and 23rd February, at the Millennium London Mayfair Hotel or contact us previously for a personal meeting! We look forward to meeting you!

ARTES and BioSun announce co-development for HPV vaccine

Langenfeld, Germany / Tehran, Iran  

ARTES Biotechnology and BioSun Pharmed announced to join forces for the development and manufacturing of a HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine in Iran.

The agreed long-term collaboration involved the strength of both partners. ARTES Biotechnology GmbH (ARTES) is specialized in cell line and process development of virus like particle (VLP) based vaccines and in technology transfer for pharmaceutically relevant production processes.

BioSun Pharmed Co is involved in the manufacturing of high quality and safe vaccines and biopharmaceutical products for the domestic and international markets.

Human papilloma virus infection (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection globally. Most people are infected at some point in their lives. There are approximately 79 million men/women actively infected with the virus at any point in time. Annually, there are 14 million newly diagnosed cases of HPV. HPV infection can cause in warts or precancerous lesions. The precancerous lesions increase the risk of cancer.

In 2012, about 270,000 women died from cervical cancer, more than 85% of these deaths occurring in low and middle income countries.

“We are extremely delighted about the mutually agreed collaboration. This agreement is the next step in ARTES’ strategy to develop from a service provider for process development to a partner for full pharmaceutical product development,” Dr. Michael Piontek, founder and managing director of ARTES Biotechnology.

For the first time, ARTES will be responsible for process development of API, formulation, quality control and supply of preclinical test material. In addition, ARTES will be engaged in design of the manufacturing site at BioSun and in selection of third parties for GMP manufacturing.

“I am really pleased that after technical and commercial discussions, we could finally make collaboration agreement with a well-known and reliable partner for not only producing pre-master cell banks but also for co-developments of our mutual interested products. Our mission is producing high quality and affordable vaccines and biotech products improving health level of community.” Dr. Mohammad Taghavian, managing director of Biosun Pharmed.

Financial details of this agreement were not disclosed.

Sun Pharma & ICGEB sign exclusive deal on dengue vaccine – ARTES adds experience in VLP development and production

NEW DELHI, India I October 19, 2016

International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and Sun Pharma today announced their new collaboration for development of a dengue vaccine, targeted against all the four serotypes of Dengue virus that cause disease in humans. ICGEB has developed a tailored recombinant virus-like-particle (VLP) based tetravalent dengue vaccine, containing host-receptor binding domain of envelope protein of all the four DENV serotypes. ICGEB has conducted pre-clinical studies over the past seven years and developed the existing Know-How and Patents for this dengue vaccine candidate.

Sun Pharma invests over US$ 300 million annually on research and development in pharmaceuticals and biologics. The Company will use its in-house expertise as well as expertise of its Associate company, ARTES Biotechnology GmbH, in development of dengue vaccine. ARTES will add their experience and proprietary know-how in production of VLP based vaccines from yeast production cell lines. Hep-B and HPV vaccines developed by ARTES are licensed to several companies worldwide and a Malaria vaccine program is sponsored by PATH (Malaria Vaccine Initiative). Taken together, the Company has past experience in development of Hep-B and Typhoid vaccines, as well as complex vaccines, such as HPV and Malaria.

 

For the full text, see: http://www.sunpharma.com/media/press-releases

ARTES and Burnet Institute join forces to develop novel hepatitis C vaccine

ARTES Biotechnology and Burnet Institute announce they have joined forces to develop a novel, effective vaccine to prevent transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV).

An HCV vaccine is urgently needed to prevent re-infection in people treated through antiviral therapies and reverse the high global mortality rates from infection-related liver cirrhosis or liver cancer, estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be more than 500,000 people each year. More than 130 million people globally are carriers of HCV, a blood-borne virus.

The innovative hepatitis C vaccine project will combine Burnets’ proprietary HepSeeVaxDelta3™ technology, developed by Associate Professor Heidi Drummer and colleagues, with ARTES’ proprietary METAVAX® technology for the development of chimeric virus-like particle (VLP) based vaccines. The project aims to develop a VLP based vaccine that efficiently presents HCV antigens to prevent hepatitis C infection. The VLPs will present the novel, modified envelope protein (E2) on its surface, thereby targeting the vaccine to dendritic cells to prime and prepare the immune system to fight against hepatitis C infection.

Deputy Head of Burnet’s Centre for Biomedical Research and HCV vaccine team leader, Associate Professor Drummer said HepSeeVaxDelta3™ technology overcomes a critical limitation to HCV vaccine development. “The virus that causes HCV has evolved to avoid the immune system so that in natural infection, key immune responses are delayed or distracted by irrelevant targets on the virus. The same is true for conventional vaccine platforms tested previously. The HepSeeVaxDelta3™ component of the vaccine redirects the immune response to make antibodies on the most important targets that prevent infection against the seven circulating HCV genotypes.”

Managing Director of ARTES, Dr Michael Piontek said his company was excited to join forces with Burnet Institute to develop a much-needed vaccine against hepatitis C, which is endemic in many countries where treatment costs are high and HCV poses a significant burden on healthcare systems. “Access to diagnosis and treatment is limited, especially in endemic countries in Africa and Asia, so there is a strong demand for a safe and low-cost vaccine to prevent hepatitis C infection. This is in-line with the aim of the WHO to realize their hepatitis C elimination targets. After out-licensing processes for hepatitis B vaccine production worldwide, ARTES is proud to take the next step together with Burnet Institute in fighting another life-threatening hepatitis infection.”

 

The vaccine development platform

ARTES’ vaccine development platform METAVAX® in combination with the expression host Hansenula polymorpha (recommended by the WHO for hepatitis B vaccine production) is the preferred tool for the development of affordable vaccines. ARTES’ development platform is a unique and very economical approach to low-cost mass production of safe and effective vaccines.

Burnet Institute’s HepSeeVaxDelta3™ technology is developed by re-engineering the major HCV viral surface protein E2 to produce the novel HepSeeVaxDelta3™ vaccine. HepSeeVaxDelta3™ can generate high levels of antibodies that can block replication of all seven genotypes of HCV in laboratory tests. This major scientific advance offers the prospect of a simple, universal vaccine to prevent HCV infection worldwide.