Cambridge, UK, 30 September 2019: Horizon Discovery Group plc (LSE: HZD) (“Horizon”), a global leader in the application of gene editing and gene modulation for cell line engineering, today announced the full commercial licensing to Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, a global innovative pharmaceutical company, of its gene-edited Glutamine Synthetase (“GS”) knockout Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) K1 cell line. Terms of the agreement were based on stringent evaluation of the cell line by Glenmark to assess its suitability for adoption into the Company’s biomanufacturing processes. 

Martin Bertschinger, Deputy Director of Cell Sciences, Glenmark, explained: “After extensive evaluation, Horizon’s GS knockout CHO K1 cell line demonstrated consistently impressive performance. We generated clones with high levels of productivity and a favorable stability profile relative to our previous system. Incorporating this technology into our biomanufacturing processes enhances our ability to efficiently generate high quality cell lines.”

“We are extremely encouraged by the adoption of our GS knockout CHO K1 cell line by Glenmark. This proprietary solution has now been licensed to over 50 companies globally, which, together with a number of confirmed Investigational New Drug (IND) filings for products expressed in the cells, demonstrates increasing industry acceptance,” commented Dirk Gewert, Business Unit Director, Horizon Discovery. “These licenses have been taken as a result of an unmatched combination of high performance, transparent cell line history, supporting documentation, and attractive licensing terms. By adopting this approach, Horizon aims to empower organizations of all sizes from large pharmaceutical companies to small startups to drive efficiencies in biotherapeutic manufacturing.”

Horizon licenses its CHO expression system to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and biosimilar companies, as well as contract manufacturing organizations. The system includes the GS knockout CHO K1 cell line, a comprehensive package of supporting documentation, and an expression vector supplied under license from DNATwoPointO, Inc. This biomanufacturing platform allows these companies to move from the DNA sequence of their potential biotherapeutic to clinical manufacturing as simply and rapidly as possible.

For further information on Horizon’s CHO expression system, please visit: https://www.horizondiscovery.com/bioproduction/cho-cells