Charleston biotech company to commercialize university’s research

A Charleston-based biotech company has signed a collaborative agreement to license a patent from Georgia State University in Atlanta to commercialize research conducted at the school.

VaxyGen Manufacturing Services LLC, which is operating in the SCRA MUSC Innovation Center, has signed an agreement with Georgia State’s Research Foundation to provide VaxyGen the exclusive license to a patent for producing and purifying proteins in development as biopharmaceutical and vaccine products.

VaxyGen Holdings LLC is the parent company for three separate operations, including Assay Services LLC, Manufacturing Services LLC and Vaccines Ltd.

The agreement allows VaxyGen to commercialize the expertise of Georgia State’s Biological Process Development and Research Laboratory, the company said in a statement.

“We have been most impressed with the expertise, know-how, technology and productivity resident within the GSU Biological Process Development and Research Laboratory,” VaxyGen President and CEO David Dodd said. “One of the greatest identified challenges in the development of life-enhancing biopharmaceutical and vaccine products is establishing consistent, successful optimization, purification and production of the underlying proteins related to development products.”

Dodd said the GSU team has demonstrated consistent success in addressing and resolving technical issues.

“We are confident that the biopharmaceutical and vaccine development marketplace will welcome and benefit from the broad commercialization of this technology and overall capability,” he said.

Jim Weyhenmeyer, chairman of the research foundation and vice president for research and economic development at Georgia State said the agreement is a significant step in commercializing research at Georgia State University.