Quebec-based ProMetic Life Sciences entered an agreement with Russian pharmaceutical company Generium to develop several plasma-derived biopharmaceuticals as well as two plasma-derived coagulating factors. 

Generium will pay ProMetic $17 million in license and milestone fees, of which $6 million is to be paid up front. In addition, Generium will fund and conduct clinical trials in Russia and CIS for the plasma-derived biopharmaceuticals providing ProMetic with exclusive rights to clinical data on several products outside of Russia/CIS.

ProMetic granted Generium manufacturing rights for several plasma-derived biopharmaceuticals using its PPPS™ (plasma protein purification system) technology. The Canadian firm will also provide training and technical support to manufacture the biopharmaceuticals in a facility to be built and operated by Generium in Russia.

Generium will fully fund the construction and operating costs of its new cGMP plasma purification facility. The design will be based on ProMetic's Laval, Quebec, facility and will have a plasma processing capacity of up to 600,000 liters per year, the company said. Construction has already commenced and is expected to be completed by 2017.

Once Generium's PPPS facility becomes operational, both Generium's and ProMetic's facilities may complement each other as contract manufacturing organizations on specific biopharmaceutical products. ProMetic said it will also supply the required affinity resins for the PPPS based Russian facility and royalties will be paid by Generium to ProMetic on sales of the biopharmaceutical products in the Russian/CIS markets. Both parties will equally share net profits from sales of the two coagulation factors that will be co-developed and commercialized globally.

At the start of the year, ProMetic announced it achieved a plasma protein manufacturing milestone as part of a deal with Hematech Biotherapeutics, triggering a $1 million payment. This was the second milestone the Canadian life science firm earned since the launch of the collaboration with Hematech in May 2012.

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