Selexis SA Forms Scientific Advisory Board Headed by Sir Gregory Winter

GENEVA, Sept. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Selexis SA announced today it has appointed three leading, internationally recognized scientists to its newly formed Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).  The appointed members bring expertise in the areas of gene expression and cell line development, monoclonal antibodies and therapeutic proteins.  

Selexis formed the SAB to expand the Company's SURE Technology Platform™ into the significant drug discovery and R&D market segments.  The SAB members bring Selexis unparalleled scientific and business expertise in commercializing life science technologies and biopharmaceuticals.  As part of Selexis' growth, the Company is committed to developing new technologies and innovative services that address biopharmaceutical needs from discovery to manufacturing. The most recent expansion of the platform, Selexis' SUREvariant Screening™, was launched in March, 2011.  The Company's continued expansion of technologies and services in the discovery area include the SURE HTSchaperone™ technology to be launched in 1Q2012 and the generation of novel designer CHO cell lines in 2Q2012. The SAB will play a strategic role in the development, enhancement and launch of these new platform extensions.

"We are very honored that such esteemed scientists and industry experts have agreed to serve on our SAB," said Igor Fisch, CEO of Selexis.  "Having access to top scientific minds and commercial strategists provides us with expertise, insight and biotech experience that will contribute to the next generation of our technology platform and services.  The SAB's in-depth knowledge of the current and next-generation monoclonal antibody space will help Selexis provide innovative solutions for the challenges of identifying and manufacturing novel biologics."

Selexis' Scientific Advisory Board includes the following members:

• Cori Gorman, PhD, MBA – Dr. Cori Gorman brings an outstanding record of achievement in basic research and drug development applications in diverse areas including gene therapy, gene expression, and transfer, hormone processing, cell biology, protein transport, and the humanization and production of recombination of proteins. Her strong publication record has resulted in over 13,000 citations and 6 classic citations. Dr. Gorman developed the CAT assay in 1980 as a postdoctoral fellow in the LMB/NCI. This assay was developed as a sensitive determiner of gene expression and was the industry standard for over fifteen years.  At Genentech, Dr. Gorman played a key role in the development of a number of marketed products including Kogenate, Activase, Herceptin, Xolair, and Raptiva. Dr. Gorman also played a role in the early stages of Avastin. Based on her work at Genentech, Dr. Cori Gorman is recognized as a pioneer in the development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics and has co-authored 6 INDs. Upon leaving her position at Genentech, she co-founded two biotech start-ups, one of which, Valentis, a gene therapy company, went public.

Dr. Gorman has received several fellowships from such organizations as the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, the European Molecular Biology Organization and NATO.

• Prof. Nicolas Mermod, PhD – Prof. Nicolas Mermod is Professor of Biotechnology at Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne. After completing his post-doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkley, USA, Prof. Mermod joined the University of Lausanne as an assistant Professor of the Swiss National Science Foundation to become a full professor in the Department of Biology. He is also a co-founder and board member of Selexis. As head of a laboratory with over 20 scientists, Prof. Mermod conducts teaching and research activities at the Center for Biotechnology UNIL-EPFL. Prof. Mermod has gained a reputation in the field of molecular biology and the control of gene expression and has authored a number of scientific publications and patents.

• Sir Gregory Winter, CBE, FRS – Sir Gregory Winter is a member of the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, and a Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge. He has served LMB as a Head of Division, Deputy Director and Acting Director. His scientific career has almost entirely been based in Cambridge where his work included protein and nucleic acid sequencing. He later developed technologies for making humanized antibodies (by grafting hypervariable regions from rodent antibodies to human antibodies) and also for making human antibodies in bacteria (by use of antibody repertories and phage display technologies). Most of the therapeutic antibodies on the market were developed using methods devised by him. He was a Founder and Director of Cambridge Antibody Technology (acquired by Astra Zeneca), a Founder and Director of Domantis (acquired by GSK) and more recently a Founder and Director of Bicycle Therapeutics.  Sir Gregory has received several major international prizes including the King Faisal Prize for Medicine and the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine. In 2004 he was knighted for services to Molecular Biology.

About Selexis SA

Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, Selexis SA is a global life science company with innovative technologies and world-class expert services for drug discovery, cell line development and scale-up to manufacturing of therapeutic proteins.  The Company's SUREtechnology Platform™ is based on Selexis Genetic Elements™ -- novel DNA-based elements that control the dynamic organization of chromatin within all mammalian cells and allow for higher and more stable expression of recombinant proteins. Selexis has generated over 1,300 cell lines being used in a variety of programs from drug discovery to late-stage clinical trials.  The Company anticipates three products manufactured from cell lines using the Selexis SUREtechnology Platform™ to be launched in 2012.

For more information, visit http://www.selexis.com

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SOURCE Selexis SA