Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services is a fully integrated contract development and manufacturing organization with sites in Belgium, United States, Japan and India. 

Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma pleased to announce a Strategic alliance with XL-protein GmbH, a privately owned German biopharmaceutical company. Ajinomoto will apply its proprietary Corynex^® expression system together with XL-protein's proprietary PASylation^® technology for plasma half-life extension to develop a series of therapeutic compounds.

Ajinomoto and XL-protein have established the efficient production of a PASylated proprietary GLP-1 variant with an extended half-life at laboratory scale yielding >3 grams soluble protein per liter bacterial culture including facile purification from the supernatant.

The PASylated GLP-1 variant maintains high receptor affinity. In vivo pharmacokinetic studies in mice have revealed a drastically prolonged half-life, suggesting potentially weekly or biweekly dosing in human patients. Ajinomoto has started a partnering process for this molecule.

Financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.