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Serum Institute and Aragen Bioscience Announce Collaboration on Vaccine Development

San Jose, California, USA; Hyderabad, India — January 08, 2020 — Aragen Bioscience, Inc, a subsidiary unit of GVK BIO and one of the leading pre-clinical CRO specializing in monoclonal antibody and other large-molecule product development and Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. (Serum), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, are pleased to announce a collaboration for the development of multiple stable cell lines to support Serum’s HIV program. This partnership between Serum and Aragen unites two organizations that are committed to ‘Accelerating Life Sciences R&D’ with the goal of developing affordable monoclonal antibodies that improve the quality of human life.

Aragen will leverage its expertise with their RapTrTM platform utilizing proprietary vectors and CHO DG44 host cells to develop the cell lines. Combined with the analytics platform, Aragen is set to provide Serum with high expressing cell lines enabling Serum to quickly move their program forward into Manufacturing. With a proven track record of more than 50 years in developing affordable medicines, Serum will focus its efforts on advancing these novel molecules into impactful vaccines or therapies that treat and prevent diseases world-wide.

“We are delighted to partner with the global leader in Vaccines,” said Manni Kantipudi, Chairman, Aragen, & Chief Executive Officer, GVK BIO. “The Aragen team is recognized globally for its ability to clone and express challenging proteins. Through this collaboration with Serum, we expect to build on this expertise to develop and deliver affordable biologicals.”

SIIPL is very pleased to join hands with Aragen. SIIPL is already in collaboration with IAVI and Scripps Research for the discovery of novel monoclonal antibodies against HIV. With our manufacturing capabilities and this collaboration with Aragen to develop stable cell lines, SIIPL will be able to provide cost-effective monoclonal antibodies against HIV for the developing and developed world,” stated Mr. Adar Poonawalla, CEO, SIIPL.

About GVK BIO
GVK BIO, a leading Contract Research & Development Organization servicing the global Life-sciences industry, is headquartered in Hyderabad, India with operations in five sites including Aragen Bioscience, Inc. in California, USA. Established in 2001, GVK BIO has over 19 years of experience across the Research and Development value chain with a focus on speed and quality while ensuring safety and compliance. GVK BIO’s team of over 2500 highly qualified scientists, backed by a no-conflict business model, well-defined and scalable processes, modern facilities, and a strong customer-centric partnering approach, focus on bringing its customers’ products to market.

About Serum
Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. was founded in 1966 by Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla with a mission of manufacturing life-saving immuno-biologics. Serum is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally (more than 1.3 billion doses). It is estimated that about 65% of the children in the world receive at least one vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute. Vaccines manufactured by Serum are accredited by the World Health Organization, Geneva and are being used in approximately 170 countries across the globe.
Serum is ranked as India’s No.1 biotechnology company, manufacturing highly specialized lifesaving biologics like vaccines using cutting edge genetic and cell-based technologies, antisera and other medical specialties. The philanthropic philosophy of Serum continues with its work on newer vaccines and biologicals.
www.seruminstitute.com

Contact
E: corpcomm@aragen.com