Nottingham, UK, 7th July 2006 – Novozymes has acquired Delta Biotechnology Ltd from the sanofi-aventis group. Established in 1984, Delta is, from 6th July, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Novozymes A/S operating as a self-contained business unit with both its R&D and manufacturing facilities based in Nottingham, UK. The new company will operate under the name Novozymes Delta Ltd.
Novozymes Delta develops and manufactures recombinant protein products using highly engineered, proprietary Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains. The Company also undertakes flexible licensing of its yeast based expression system to offer its pharmaceutical, healthcare and biotech partners customised solutions to their recombinant protein needs. Recombumin®, the Company’s lead product, is the world’s first and only animal-free, commercially available recombinant human albumin; it is used in the manufacture of human therapeutics that have been approved by both the FDA and the EMEA.
Novozymes is the world leader in the production of enzymes in a range of microorganisms and has acquired Delta as part of its strategy to extend its portfolio of products that are used as key ingredients in biopharmaceutical products.
Novozymes’ CEO Steen Riisgaard said: “Delta Biotechnology is a good match for our existing projects in ingredients for the biopharmaceutical industry. The acquisition will bring us significant know-how and technology, and will support our continued expansion in this area.”
Dermot Pearson, Commercial Operations Director of Novozymes Delta added, “Novozymes will set the direction and has the resources that will enable us to further progress our yeast-based protein expression capabilities to the benefit of our global customer base. The market for safe, animal-free recombinant proteins is growing and, with Novozymes backing us, we’ll be in a great position to satisfy this market”.
About Novozymes Delta Ltd:
Novozymes Delta Ltd develops and manufactures recombinant protein products using highly engineered, proprietary Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains. The Company also undertakes flexible licensing of its yeast based expression system to offer its pharmaceutical, healthcare and biotech partners customised solutions to their recombinant protein needs.
Novozymes Delta’s capabilities range from state of the art molecular biology manipulation of yeast, through process development and analytics to commercial-scale manufacture of recombinant albumin in a Health Canada and FDA-inspected, cGMP-compliant facility.
The Company’s proprietary yeast based expression technologies and accompanying Intellectual Property portfolio has resulted in animal component free, high-yielding systems for the production of recombinant proteins at an extremely competitive cost of goods. Novozymes Delta’s protein expression abilities include both the production of native or modified polypeptides and the secretion of proteins genetically fused to albumin using albufuse™, the Company’s proprietary albumin fusion technology. Fusing proteins to albumin significantly enhances circulatory half-life.
For more information, visit www.deltabiotechnology.com.
Media enquiries: At Novozymes Delta: Dermot Pearson, Commercial Operations Director Tel: + 44 (0) 115 955 3355 dermot.pearson@deltabiotechnology.com
At Novozymes: Eva Veileborg Hald, Media Relations Tel. (direct): (+45) 4442 3338 Tel. (mobile): (+45) 3079 3338 evvh@novozymes.com
At Northbank Communications: Peter Colley, Director Tel: +44 (0) 1260 296500 p.colley@northbankcommunications.com
