SubscribeProsonix Ltd (Oxford UK) and UCB SA (Braine l'Alleud, Belgium), are pleased to announce the extension of their Co-Development and Licensing Agreement for the utilization of Prosonix' proprietary sonocrystallization technology across a range of its pharmaceutical products.
The renewal of the Agreement follows successful Proof of Concept, and Initial Proof of Process studies on two of UCB's lead pharmaceutical products and represents the culmination of almost 3 years of collaborative research and development effort between the parties.
To enable further scale up and clinical development activities to be undertaken by UCB, Prosonix has provided a bespoke multipurpose ProsonitronTM sonocrystallization reactor system that will be utilized in the cGMP manufacturing facilities at UCB's Braine l'Alleud site.
Prosonix sonocrystallization technology works by controlling and actively manipulating nucleation and subsequent crystal growth behaviour that is fundamental to the control of physical form and the improvement of a crystallization process. Customers benefit from the control of crystal habit, amorphous state, polymorphs, manipulation of crystal size distribution, and the prevention and reversal of troublesome agglomerations.
Additional value adding improvements in related product properties such as purity, filtration rate and bulk density are capitalised at production scale. An attractive feature of the technology is its scale-out nature, such that it can be applied at any stage and at any time across a product pipeline from early laboratory studies through to full industrialization.
Commenting on the Agreement, David Hipkiss, CEO of Prosonix said:
"The Prosonix team are delighted to have extended this key agreement with UCB. With the high added value nature of the products and stringent requirements for the control of all aspects of physical form, pharmaceuticals represent a natural and core market segment for Prosonix proprietary sonocrystallization technology. UCB's reputation to be early adopters of innovative new technologies coupled to their willingness to see these through to filing and full commercial operation makes them an ideal partner. This culture coupled to their process R&D and chemical engineering excellence will contribute substantially to our future collaborative success."
Adding his comments, Dr John Surtees UCB's Director, Chemical Process R&D said:
"The Prosonix technology has the potential to become an ideal cost effective solution to a range of common crystallization problems associated with the manufacture of our pharmaceutical products. It is simple to use and retrofit, has no moving parts, and requires no chemical additives. We plan for it to be a key technology platform within UCB and look forward to working with the Prosonix team in the future".