DSM Biologics, a business unit of DSM Pharmaceutical Products and Dutch biotechnology partner Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL; Swiss Exchange: CRX) announced today that they have signed a PER.C6® license agreement with pioneering and leading Portuguese biotechnology company, Biotecnol SA, and its USA based subsidiary Biotecnol, Inc. This license agreement allows Biotecnol to use the PER.C6® human cell line for preclinical and phase 1 clinical development of its proprietary antibody products, which are composed of Tribodies™ and Compact Antibodies.

“In our opinion, the PER.C6® human cell line is now an established technology. We believe that by adopting the PER.C6® production platform, we will be able to develop our products in a robust, cost efficient and most importantly, in a timely way, due to its characteristics and ease of manipulation. We are keen and committed in adopting this proven and exciting platform for pushing our products into the latter stages of development” commented Pedro de Noronha Pissarra, Chief Executive Officer of Biotecnol.

‘We are very pleased that Biotecnol enters the expanding group of PER.C6® licensees. Biotecnol is the first licensee from the emerging Iberian biotechnology region. We look forward to helping Biotecnol achieve its development goals for their pipeline of innovative products” commented Terry Novak, Business Director and Chief Marketing Officer at DSM Biologics.

“We are truly delighted by the completion of this important deal ,” said Arthur Lahr, Crucell’s Chief Strategy Officer and Executive President responsible for Sales and Business Development. “The deal provides further industrial-leading approval for the use of PER.C6® technology in the development and large scale manufacturing of biologics.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Biotecnol will make license payments and annual maintenance fees in exchange for certain rights. Further financial details were not disclosed.

About Biotecnol
Biotecnol is a biotechnology company focused on the development of biopharmaceutical products and has a special focus on the development of antibody-based therapeutics to treat life-threatening diseases such as cancer. Biotecnol has three types of proprietary antibody formats in development against various cancer targets. These formats are Tribodies™, Compact Antibodies and Armed Antibodies. Biotecnol is committed in building value by developing a diverse pipeline of antibody products to address unmet healthcare needs. Biotecnol applies its antibody technologies, product development and manufacturing experience to generate, support and potentially license out human antibody products. Biotecnol SA has a presence in the USA and carries its product development activities via its fully owned subsidiary Biotecnol Inc. Through its facility in Portugal, Biotecnol SA, leverages its business income by establishing in-house partner-led or collaborative programmes, which provide Biotecnol a strong client-based activity and an established track record. Biotecnol uses its proprietary expression technology, cell line development capabilities, upstream and downstream processing, analytics and QC experience for delivering GMP/GLP compliant processes for biomanufacturing.

About Crucell
Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL; Swiss Exchange: CRX) is a biotechnology focused on research, development and worldwide marketing of vaccines and antibodies prevent and treat infectious diseases. Its vaccines are sold in public and private markets worldwide. Crucell’s core portfolio includes a vaccine against hepatitis B, a fully-liquid against five important childhood diseases, and a virosome-adjuvanted vaccine against influenza. Crucell also markets travel vaccines, such as the only oral anti-typhoid vaccine, oral cholera vaccine and the only aluminum-free hepatitis A vaccine on the market. Company has a broad development pipeline, with several Crucell products based on unique PER.C6® production technology. The Company licenses this and other technologies the biopharmaceutical industry. Important partners and licensees include DSM Biologics, sanofi aventis, GSK and Merck & Co. Crucell is headquartered in Leiden (the Netherlands), with subsidiaries in Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Korea and the US. The Company employs over a 1000 people. For more information, please visit www.crucell.com.