JSR Life Sciences Agrees to Acquire Pioneering Cell Line Developer Selexis SA and Integrate Selexis with KBI Biopharma, Inc.

JSR Life Sciences, the life-sciences focused division of JSR Corporation, will offer industry partners best-in-class CDMO services by complementing its commercial subsidiary KBI Biopharma with Selexis SA Technologies

TOKYO, Japan and GENEVA, Switzerland – June 14, 2017 – JSR Life Sciences (JLS) announced today that JSR Corporation has agreed to acquire Selexis SA, a pioneering life sciences company and global leader in mammalian (suspension-adapted CHO-K1) cell-line generation technologies. Once completed, this transaction will mark the second major biotechnology addition to the JSR group of companies following JSR Corporation’s acquisition of KBI Biopharma in 2015. Selexis will be integrated within KBI Biopharma’s operations to create the most robust and fastest “Gene to GMP” service offering in the biopharmaceutical industry.     

“Selexis has the best-in-class cell-line development technology and offers the ability to solve some of the most difficult expression challenges in biologics development,” said Eric R. Johnson, President of JSR’s Life Sciences Division. “JSR holds quality as the highest of its values and we see that same focus in Selexis. The Selexis technologies seamlessly integrate into the biologics development continuum, spanning discovery to commercialization. This allows us – in conjunction with KBI Biopharma – to move one step closer in our vision to become the biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) of the 21st century.” 

With biopharma’s ever-evolving pipeline of novel protein therapeutics, such as bi-specific antibodies, multimeric proteins and Fc-fusion proteins, CHO cells are being pushed to their productivity limits in drug development and manufacturing. Biopharmaceutical companies working on these promising new therapies are increasingly struggling with development challenges such as weak protein expression, low-yield purification steps, and poorly optimized analytical techniques. Without addressing these challenges, many of these new medicines capable of treating serious, intractable diseases would never advance out of the pre-clinical phase. Selexis has made its mark with its SUREtechnology Platform™ that facilitates the rapid, stable, and cost-effective generation of cell lines producing virtually any recombinant protein. KBI has a proven track record of delivering therapeutic candidates into the clinic by leveraging its strengths in process development and analytics. Moreover, KBI and Selexis already have a long history of successful collaboration on behalf of their partners, as KBI has performed development and/or manufacturing services using more than 15 different Selexis generated cell lines since 2012.  

“Combining KBI’s robust analytical, process development, and reliable high-quality manufacturing capabilities with our Selexis SUREtechnology Platform, puts us in a position to offer current and future partners the ability to take their R&D programs from transfection to investigational new drug (IND) application in less than nine months,” said Igor Fisch, PhD, Selexis Chief Executive Officer. “By delivering the fastest timelines in the industry, our partners will benefit from substantial cost savings and patients will have access to critical drugs sooner. We believe in the ability of our combined technologies and knowhow to contribute to the medicines of tomorrow that will save the lives of those facing diseases as diverse as HIV and various cancers.”

“The combination of Selexis and KBI results in a truly unique opportunity to create value for our clients,” said KBI President Tim Kelly, PhD. “KBI and Selexis share the same mission and values based on innovation, scientific excellence, true partnership with our clients, and focus on the patients we serve.  Together, Selexis and KBI represent the next generation CDMO for the biopharmaceutical industry, which will translate into more high-quality biologics entering the clinic faster.”

Terms of the sales and purchase agreement are not disclosed. 

ABOUT JSR LIFE SCIENCES DIVISION 

JSR Life Sciences Division is a business unit of JSR Corporation, which provides specialized materials and products to the biotech industry. JSR Life Sciences operates a network of manufacturing facilities, sales offices and R&D labs in key markets throughout North America, Europe and Asia­Pacific. JSR Life Sciences is focused on diagnostics and research products and bioprocessing materials and services for the manufacture of biologics. 

ABOUT SELEXIS SA

Selexis SA is a pioneering life sciences company and a global leader in mammalian (suspension-adapted CHO-K1) cell-line generation, providing unparalleled proprietary technology and the highly-specialized expertise that is necessary to translate scientific innovation into life-saving medicines for patients. Selexis’ SUREtechnology Platform™ facilitates the rapid, stable, and cost-effective production of virtually any recombinant protein and provides seamless integration of the bioproduction continuum, spanning discovery to commercialization. With more than 100 partners worldwide, more than 76 biologic drug development programs and three commercial products utilizing its cell lines, Selexis has a history of empowering scientists and biopharmaceutical companies around the world to realize the full potential of their research. More information is available at www.selexis.com.

ABOUT KBI BIOPHARMA 

KBI Biopharma, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization that accelerates the development of innovative discoveries into life­changing biological products. From early­stage to academic/non­profit organizations, to many of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, KBI has served 250+ clients globally to accelerate and optimize their drug development programs. 

KBI’s extensive track record of successful programs is a result of its unique approach: applying the insight gained from our advanced biophysical and analytical protein characterization techniques toward the development of robust and scalable processes. KBI delivers accelerated and integrated process development and cGMP manufacturing programs for a wide range of recombinant protein Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and cell therapy products for our clients. KBI was founded in 1996 and operates 4 facilities: Durham and Research Triangle Park (NC), Boulder (CO), and The Woodlands (TX).