Cellumed signs technology transfer agreement with German ARTES... "Accelerating development of mRNA therapeutics and vaccine production enzymes"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Cellumed announced on the 13th that it has signed a contract for contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) and technology transfer with German ARTES Biotechnology GmbH (hereinafter ARTES) to develop two essential production enzymes for mRNA manufacturing.

This contract will proceed through a total of six stages, from gene design and cell line development to technology transfer and license acquisition. Cellumed plans to complete the development of essential mRNA production enzymes by the end of next year in collaboration with ARTES. Additionally, through Richter Helm Biologics GmbH&Co.KG (RHB), a large-scale global CMO (contract manufacturing organization) company with 30 years of experience, it will begin manufacturing GMP-grade mRNA production enzymes for supply to the United States and Europe.

ARTES, which has extensive experience in developing high-expression cell lines for large-scale recombinant protein expression, scale-up production process development, mass production technology, and technology transfer, will actively cooperate in domestic technology transfer and establishing GMP production systems for the enzymes developed in the future. Based on this, Cellumed expects to secure ownership of the developed cell lines and lay the foundation for technological independence regarding mRNA vaccine production enzymes, which currently rely on overseas sources.

The company explained that by signing this contract with ARTES, which has accumulated over 20 years of CDMO (contract development and manufacturing) technology in Germany, a leading country in biopharmaceuticals, it has created an opportunity to establish competitiveness not only in the European market but also in global markets such as North and Central America.

Recently, many global pharmaceutical companies developing mRNA therapeutics and vaccines have been facing difficulties in procuring raw materials such as production enzymes. The mRNA production enzymes being developed by Cellumed are manufactured and produced according to the standard pharmacopoeias of major countries such as Europe and the United States, so they are expected to meet future market demand.

Founded in 2002, ARTES is a CDMO specialized company in the biotechnology field, focusing on biosimilars, diagnostics, enzyme, and vaccine development. Leveraging its outstanding technology in recombinant protein development and production using bacteria and yeast, ARTES has developed vaccines for COVID-19, malaria, and Lyme disease and holds technology transfers and partnerships with numerous global pharmaceutical companies in Europe, North America, the United States, and India. It is anticipated that the synergy will be maximized when the technology of Cellumed, a leading company in protein growth factor development, is combined with ARTES’s technology.

A company official stated, “As various mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics are currently being developed, mRNA will become a representative core technology leading biopharmaceuticals from now on,” and added, “Due to unstable supply of mRNA raw materials, the importance of research and development and production related to biopharmaceuticals as well as bio raw materials and components is emerging.”

He continued, “In response to these market conditions, Cellumed has focused research on the bio raw materials sector, which domestic bio companies are weak in, and is fully committed to developing production enzymes as a representative mRNA-based raw materials and components company,” adding, “Through this, we will do our best to secure national competitiveness related to mRNA in the global market.”