Octapharma and Fresenius Kabi Enter Agreement for a HESylated Recombinant Protein

Octapharma Group (Bad Homburg, Germany) and Fresenius Kabi (Lachen, Switzerland) have signed a license, development, and supply agreement for the use of Fresenius Kabi’s HESylation technology to develop a HESylated recombinant protein.

Under the agreement, Fresenius Kabi will license its proprietary HESylation technology to Octapharma. This technology platform is based on hydroxyethyl starch (HES) that will be combined with a recombinant protein from Octapharma's human cell-line platform. This combination is intended to generate a therapeutic protein with a superior product profile.

Fresenius Kabi will seek to adapt and optimize protein modification by its HESylation Technology and will also be responsible for providing the appropriate HES derivative to Octapharma. Under the agreement, Octapharma will oversee the further development and commercialization. Fresenius Kabi will receive upfront and milestone payments, research funding and royalties on sales for licensing of the HESylation technology.

HESylation technology allows a targeted modification of drugs and their characteristics by a site-specific coupling to HES molecules. This can modify key pharmacological parameters such as absorption, metabolization, half-life, water solubility, and safety.