Achieving homogeneous antibody industrial production/ Commercializing Innovative technology

(June 7, 2021, Taipei) CHO-Pharma (TWO: 6586) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mycenax (TWO: 4726) today. Mycenax will become the first contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) partner of CHO Pharma. With the exclusive patented technology platform CHOptimax™ that boosts antibody efficacy from CHO Pharma and commercialized scale manufacture at Mycenax, two companies can make a great leap toward the development of next generation antibody production and application.

Glycosylation is an important post-translation modification for antibody drugs and greatly influences half-life, activity, and efficacy of monoclonal antibody drugs. Thus, glycosylation is a crucial factor for drug production quality control. However, due to limitations in the production process, the antibody drugs on the market do not contain uniform glycan component. Instead, the glycan in those antibody drugs are mixtures of various structures. For example, Rituxan consists of more than 36 glycan structures. The bioactivities of Rituxan could be 10 or 100 times different with different glycan structures. Therefore, identifying and mass-produce the optimal glycan structure for best efficacy of the antibody will be the key to next generation antibody drug development and the goals of global leading pharmaceutical companies.

CHOptimax™ is a revolutionary homogeneous antibody glycan technology that utilizes exclusive patented key enzyme to rapidly produce specific antibody with the best glycan structure. Our breakthrough in technology has simplified tedious process, reduced production costs, and reached the milestone of commercialization. CHO Pharma also applied CHOptimax™ to successfully develop second-generation broad-effect COVID-19 vaccine (CHO-V10) that can neutralize variants of SARS-CoV-2, including the South Africa strain. Next, CHO Pharma will apply the new production procedure on all in-house products. In addition, we aspire to optimize the efficacies of antibody new drugs and improved new drugs (Biobetter) through co-development projects or technology licensing of CHOptimax™. Eventually, we will expand application of CHOptimax™ on vaccines, cell therapy, and other related fields.

Chairman Chen, Chao-Long of CHO Pharma stated, “With the innovative glycoengineering platform, CHO Pharma is established as a leading glycobiotechnical pharmaceutical enterprise. Through this collaboration with Mycenax, our global leading CHOptimax™ technology platform will reach the milestone of industrialization.”

Chairman Lin, Rongjin of the Mycenax stated, “Mycenax aims to be a world-class CDMO company with advance technology and excellent production capacity. On top of the state-of-the-art technology, such as allogeneic cell therapy and continuous process, Mycenax will become one of the few CDMO’s that has multiple protein and antibody production lines with innovative technology through this collaboration; our competitiveness will be greatly elevated. We are very happy about this collaboration. Combining the new generation homogenous antibody CHOptimax™ technology from CHO Pharma and scale-up production technology and GMP production capability from Mycenax, we can develop many generations of antibody and their applications.”

About CHO Pharma
CHO Pharma was funded by Diamond Biofund Inc. in March 2013. Genomic Research Center, Academia Sinica joined the company with technical shares of innovative glycotechnology. CHO Pharma is dedicated to carbohydrate-based new drug development. The chairman of science advisory board (SAB)of CHO Pharma is the former president of Academia Sinica, Dr. Wong, Chi-Heuy. Other SAB members include former FDA official Dr. Shaw T. Chen and Academia Sinica Academian Dr. Yang, Pan-Chyr. Current chairman Chen, Chao-Long is a leading liver transplant expert in Asia. Board members include chairman of Fubon Financial Holding, Richard Tsai and chairman of E.Sun FHC, Joseph N.C. Huang.
Stock Code: CHO (6586)
Company Website: http://www.chopharma.com

About Mycenax
Mycenax is the first company that is equipped with chemistry, manufacturing, and control (CMC) abilities and the only company solely dedicates to CDMO in Taiwan. The core value of the company is to develop market competitive biopharmaceuticals and to produce cGMP in compliance to regulation, forming a bridge between research/ development and drug commercialization. Mycenax aims to provide services for both development and production by connecting science and technology development in Taiwan and production line in manufacturing base.
Mycenax was established in September 2001. Current capital is 153 million. Main shares holders include Center Labortories, INC. (22.16%) and Nien Hsing Textile (5.56%).
Stock Code: Mycenax (4726)
Company Website: http://www.mycenax.com.tw