Basel, Switzerland, 26 October 2012 – Lonza announces today a plasmid stability upgrade to their Microbial XS Technology™ Platform. The upgrade will improve process robustness through complete (100%) plasmid stability in E.coli. This new auxotrophic selection system is a significant upgrade to the existing XS Microbial Expression Technologies™ and is applicable to all Lonza E.coli systems.
Plasmid stability is a common concern with the microbial expression of complex proteins. Lonza’s auxotrophic selection system achieves 100% plasmid stability throughout the fermentation process via the deletion of an essential gene present in Lonza’s E.coli strains. This gene encodes for an essential metabolic protein, that when absent, the cell cannot survive. Lonza’s upgraded XS™ Plasmid backbone includes the deleted gene and ensures that only cells which have retained the plasmid will survive and produce target protein.
The benefits of this upgrade include:
- Increased process robustness ensuring a consistent, reliable and scalable process.
- Higher productivity due to the retention of the expression plasmid and the avoidance of non-producing cells.
The new plasmid stability system is now available with all of Lonza’s XS™ E. coli Expression Systems including, Sugar Inducible, Depletion Inducible, Optimized IPTG Inducible Platforms, and Lonza’s pDNA Services Platform.
About Lonza
Lonza is one of the world's leading suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries. Products and services span its customers’ needs from research to final product manufacture. It is the global leader in the production and support of chemical and biological active pharmaceutical ingredients. Biopharmaceuticals are one of the key growth drivers of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Lonza has strong capabilities in large and small molecules, peptides, amino acids and niche bioproducts which play an important role in the development of novel medicines and healthcare products. Lonza is also the world leader in microbial control providing innovative, chemistry-based and related solutions to destroy or to selectively inhibit the growth of harmful microorganisms. Its activities encompass the areas of water treatment, personal care, health and hygiene, industrial preservation, materials protection, and wood treatment. In addition, Lonza is a leader in cell-based research, endotoxin detection and cell therapy manufacturing. Furthermore, the company is a leading provider of value chemical and biotech ingredients to the nutrition and agro markets.
Lonza is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and secondary listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (“SGX-ST”). Lonza is not subject to the SGX-ST’s continuing listing requirements. Lonza is subject to the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange, which do not have specific requirements equivalent to the listing rules of the SGX-ST in respect of interested person transactions, acquisition and realizations, and delisting. In 2011, the company had sales of CHF 2.692 billion. Further information can be found at www.lonza.com
Further Information
Lonza Group Ltd
Media Relations
Melanie Disa
Tel +1 201 316 9413
Fax +1 201 696 3533
[email protected]