Developing a selective-separation polymer for biopharmaceuticals

Gerald Ondrey

MIP Technologies AB (Lund, Sweden; www.miptechnologies.com) has entered into a collaboration with Sanofi-aventis (Paris, France; en.sanofi-aventis.com) for the development of new molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for the analysis of pharmacologically active peptides from plasma samples. MIP Technologies will use a number of its patented molecular imprinting methods in the development of the polymers. The use of MIPs for selective recognition of peptides and proteins is a novel area that will open up the technology to numerous applications in the diagnostic, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries.

“This collaboration with Sanofi-aventis is both exciting and challenging,” said Anthony Rees, CEO at MIP Technologies. “We are looking to move into the development of peptide-selective MIPs, which represents a valuable piece of the separations market and has applications in analytical, preparative and process scale separations. Peptide-selective MIPs are particularly relevant for MIP Technologies since we hold important patents in this area. The added benefit of being able to address a large, new global market for molecularly imprinted polymers represents a significant commercial opportunity for the company.”

Sanofi-aventis will have exclusive access for use of the polymer in the analysis of proprietary peptide candidates, while MIP Technologies will retain the rights to use the polymers for other applications. The incorporation of the polymer into the Sanofi-aventis analytical methods will make use of separation cartridges, which will be provided through MIP Technologies’ exclusive partnership in analytical products with Supelco, a division of Sigma Aldrich (www.sigmaaldrich.com). MIP material developed during the collaboration may also be usable for selective peptide purification at preparative or process scale. Financial terms were not disclosed.

MIP Technologies AB is a world-leading company in the development of molecularly imprinted polymers . The company is a pioneer in the commercial applications of MIPs, holds important patents and maintains cutting-edge research activities in this area. The company’s mission is to provide innovative products based on molecularly imprinted polymers that serve industry’s needs in analytical, preparative- and process-scale selective separations. The company has the ability to produce MIPs and other selective polymers from laboratory to pilot scale and is well placed to develop large-scale separation solutions for its customers. Currently, the company develops analytical separation products (for example, SPE) and has multiple custom process scale projects in place with several blue chip companies.