CEL-SCI Scientist Invited to Discuss Plans to Launch Unique Manufacturing Process That Saves Cost While Enhancing the Shelf Life
16 6월 2009 - 10:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
VIENNA, Va., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CEL-SCI Corporation
(NYSE Amex: CVM) announced today that Eyal Talor, Ph.D., Senior
Vice President of Research and Manufacturing at CEL-SCI, has
accepted an invitation to be a featured speaker at the 5th Annual
Aseptic Processing of Sterile Drug Products Conference to be held
June 17th - 19th. The Conference, sponsored by The Institute of
Validation Technology (IVT), takes place at the Sheraton National
Hotel in Arlington, VA. At the workshop titled "Aseptic Facility
Design Fundamentals - Cold Fill/Finish Design for a Biologic,
Liquid Injectable", Dr. Talor will discuss the Company's plans to
launch a unique manufacturing process that could allow drugs using
stem cell technology and other biological products to maintain
their potency through the entire manufacturing process, as well as
enhance the shelf life of these drugs. The availability of this
unique aseptic filling process developed by CEL-SCI may also
significantly accelerate the time to market by eliminating
complicated, costly and time consuming validation studies and tests
required when these products are filled at room temperature. This
process is also likely to save money in the production of follow-on
biologics and biosimilars (the general equivalent of generics in
the biological arena) likely to be approved in the U.S. soon.
CEL-SCI's new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility near
Baltimore, Maryland, where CEL-SCI plans to manufacture its lead
cancer product Multikine(R), will be offering this service to
outside companies on a contract basis. The facility will allow
CEL-SCI to perform aseptic filling of small volume parenteral drug
products. The Company will employ a process known as "true cold" +4
degrees Celsius Aseptic Filling for products derived from stem cell
technology, biotechnology/pharmaceutical companies and academic
research institutions. The use of a cold +4 degrees Celsius aseptic
fill, as opposed to the room temperature fill usually employed for
these and other products, significantly increases the probability
of maintaining the biological activity and potency of these drugs,
and thus potentially extending the drugs' shelf-life. When
launched, CEL-SCI will be the only company providing this "true
cold" +4 degrees Celsius filling service on a contractual basis to
other companies and academic institutions. CEL-SCI will also be
able to offer normal room temperature fills at the same facility.
Dr. Talor said, "Many of the large pharmaceutical and generic
companies are getting ready for new biosimilar legislation in the
US. They have invested a great deal of effort and money in this
area. However, as best we know, none have "true cold" fill
capability that will allow them to bring these drugs to market
faster, while saving substantial cost. We believe that we will be
in an excellent position to work with them to meet their growing
needs as they will try to rush new drugs to market." CEL-SCI's
unique, cold aseptic filling suite can be operated at temperatures
between 2 degrees Celsius and room temperatures, including humidity
control. The Fill/Finish Facility and the aseptic filling suites
have all been designed to meet both FDA and EU ISO classifications.
CEL-SCI also has additional capability to formulate, inspect, label
and package these products at cold temperatures. Background on
CEL-SCI's "true cold" +4 degrees Celsius Fill/Finish facility: The
fastest area of growth in the Biopharmaceutical and Pharmaceutical
market is the area of biologics, most recently the area of stem
cell derived products, and in the future biosimilars (copies of
biologics). These compounds and therapies are derived from or mimic
human cells or proteins and other molecules (e.g., hormones, etc.).
Nearly all of the major new billion-dollar-drugs developed for
unmet medical needs (e.g., Avastin, Erbitux, Rituxan, Herceptin,
Copaxon, etc.) are biologics. Biologics are usually very sensitive
to heat and quickly lose their biological activity if exposed to
room or elevated temperature for various periods of time. These
elevated temperatures may also affect the shelf life of a Biologic
product, which means that the product cannot be stored for as long
as one might find desirable. Therefore, CEL-SCI has developed a
completely novel technology to be able to accomplish the aseptic
Fill/Finish operation at "true cold" +4 degrees Celsius. This is of
great importance to companies that produce the latest drugs,
biologics and stem cell derived therapies. It is an absolute
requirement by FDA and any other regulatory agency that a drug
developer must demonstrate the safety, purity and potency of a drug
being produced for use in humans. When aseptically filling a
product at CEL-SCI's new facility at +4 degrees Celsius, minimal to
no biological losses will have occurred due to the maintenance of
cold temperature, and therefore the potency of the drug is
maintained throughout this final critical step of the drug's
manufacturing process. When the same temperature sensitive drug is
instead aseptically filled at room temperature, very expensive and
time consuming validation studies must be conducted, first, to be
able to obtain a complete understanding of the product's potency
loss during the room temperature fill process, then to create
solutions to the drug potency losses, which then will also need to
be tested and validated. Therefore, CEL-SCI's new "true cold"
aseptic fill facility will provide two critical advantages to
companies developing biologics and stem cell derived therapies: it
will save them a great deal of money (wasted product and extra
validations) and it will save them a great deal of time usually
spent on the development of these expensive validations. About IVT:
The Institute of Validation Technology (IVT) Conference Division
features the most-notable validation and compliance experts in the
FDA regulated industry. IVT stands alone in its quest to
continually educate pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and medical
device professionals in validation concepts from A-Z, AND global
GXP regulatory initiatives. Through over 15 years of providing
timely, cutting-edge conferences, IVT's philosophy remains that:
"each of our events provides valuable take-home knowledge that can
be immediately implemented at every level." CEL-SCI Corporation is
developing products that empower immune defenses. Its lead product
is Multikine(R) which is currently being readied for a global Phase
III trial. The Company has operations in Vienna, Virginia, and
Baltimore, Maryland. When used in this report, the words "intends,"
"believes," "anticipated" and "expects" and similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements
are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual
results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that
could cause or contribute to such differences include, an inability
to duplicate the clinical results demonstrated in clinical studies,
timely development of any potential products that can be shown to
be safe and effective, receiving necessary regulatory approvals,
difficulties in manufacturing any of the Company's potential
products, inability to raise the necessary capital and the risk
factors set forth from time to time in CEL-SCI Corporation's SEC
filings, including but not limited to its report on Form 10- K/A
for the year ended September 30, 2008. The Company undertakes no
obligation to publicly release the result of any revision to these
forward-looking statements which may be made to reflect the events
or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence
of unanticipated events. Available Topic Expert(s): For information
on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link. Eyal Talor
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=86702
DATASOURCE: CEL-SCI Corporation CONTACT: Gavin de Windt of CEL-SCI
Corporation, +1-703-506-9460 Web Site: http://www.cel-sci.com/
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