ProBioGen Inks Commercial GlymaxX Deal with Roche

On Jan. 8, 2010, ProBioGen, a German developer and manufacturer of complex therapeutic glycoproteins, announced that it has signed a commercial license agreement with Roche for its proprietary GlymaxX technology. Under the license agreement, Roche will apply the GlymaxX technology to boost the antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity of antibodies to inhibit tumors.

The GlymaxX technology works by preventing the addition of the sugar, fucose, to the N-linked antibody carbohydrate part by antibody producing cells. The absence of fucose enhances ADCC activity for antibodies directed against cancer and infectious diseases, according to ProBioGen. The technology is based on the stable introduction of a gene for an enzyme that deflects the cellular pathway of fucose biosynthesis.

The technology, which produces afucosylated proteins, is universally applicable, simple, and potent, according to ProBioGen. It offers a unique advantage in that a single GlymaxX-modified cell line is sufficient to produce both completely fucosylated or afucosylated antibodies and those with an intermediately defined fuscosylation level. The technology can easily be integrated in newly developed or already existing cell lines of different origins.