SAFC Launches CHOZN® Platform System to Accelerate Recombinant Protein Drug Development

ST. LOUIS, April 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (NASDAQ: SIAL) today announced that its custom manufacturing and services business unit, SAFC® (www.safcglobal.com), is launching the CHOZN® Platform system, a CHO (Chinese Hamster Ovary) cell expression system that allows for faster, simpler selection and scale-up of high-producing clones for the production of recombinant protein drugs. The new platform consists of the cGMP-produced and tested CHOZN® ZFN Modified GS-/- CHO cell line, an optimized set of cGMP-produced, chemically defined media and specially designed feeds to maximize production of r-proteins. The CHOZN® Platform system has been designed and tested to perform from initial cell line engineering process and stable cell line selection, through large-scale growth and production, providing an off-the-shelf production solution for biopharmaceutical developers who do not currently have a cell line platform. Used for the production of biopharmaceuticals, the CHOZN® GS-/- cell line is the first commercially available glutamine synthetase (GS) knockout CHO line proven to shorten bioproduction times in early development, enabling customers to enhance their speed to market and decrease costs. For more information about the CHOZN Platform, visit www.safcglobal.com/choznplatform.

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Along with the cells, media and feed, SAFC provides extensive user protocols covering transfection through scale-up to small scale bioreactors, as well as comprehensive cell line safety testing and development history. 

"The CHOZN Platform system provides a solid foundation for SAFC's continued cell and media development program," says Bruce Lehr, SAFC Director of Cell Sciences and Development. "It has been proven to show a reduction in product development timelines, enabling customers to get their molecules into the clinic faster. Furthermore, it sets the stage for future cell line enhancements to affect characteristics like protein quality, molecule safety and efficacy, as well as improvements to upstream or downstream biopharmaceutical process development."

The CHOZN Platform follows the 2011 release of the CHOZN GS-/- and CHOZN DHFR-/- CHO lines.

For more information on SAFC's CHOZN Cell Lines, visit: www.safcglobal.com/chozn

For more information on SAFC's CompoZr ZFN offer, visit: www.safcglobal.com/zfnkits

For more information on SAFC's Cell Design Studio (CDS) offer, visit: www.safcglobal.com/cces

The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "expected', "should", "enabling", "proven" or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding potential future revenues from products derived there from. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. There can be no guarantee that the products described in this release will continue to meet the demands of the marketplace. Nor can there be any guarantee that any of these products will achieve any particular levels of revenue in the future. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. In particular, management's expectations regarding these products could be affected by, among other things, unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the Company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection; competition in general; government, industry and general public pricing pressures; the impact that the foregoing factors could have on the values attributed to the Company's assets and liabilities as recorded in its consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors referred to in Sigma-Aldrich's current Form 10-K on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Sigma-Aldrich is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About SAFC®: SAFC is the custom manufacturing and services business unit of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation. It's recognized as a top 10 global fine chemical supplier and trusted manufacturer of specialty chemicals and biologics for the life science and high technology industries. Utilizing global "Centers of Excellence" and dedicated manufacturing facilities, SAFC can often resolve development and manufacturing challenges and accelerate the production of custom materials. Its rich portfolio includes high-purity inorganic materials for high technology applications, cell culture products, biopharmaceutical lot release and safety testing, services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing and biochemical production, and complex, multi-step organic synthesis of APIs and key intermediates. For more information about SAFC, visit www.safcglobal.com.

About Sigma-Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company whose biochemical, organic chemical products, kits and services are used in scientific research, including genomic and proteomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and as key components in pharmaceutical, diagnostics and high technology manufacturing. Sigma-Aldrich customers include more than 1.3 million scientists and technologists in life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals and industry. The Company operates in 40 countries and has nearly 9,000 employees whose objective is to provide excellent service worldwide. Sigma-Aldrich is committed to accelerating customer success through innovation and leadership in Life Science and High Technology. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its website at www.sigma-aldrich.com.

SAFC and Sigma-Aldrich are registered trademarks of Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC.

SOURCE Sigma-Aldrich