Pharma company licenses technology to produce polynucleotides for drug development

Toronto, ON – Dalton Pharma Services, a privately owned Canadian pharmaceutical services provider, and Thermo Fisher Scientific say they have entered into an agreement under which Dalton will use a proprietary Thermo Fisher manufacturing process to produce nucleic-acid biopolymers for pharmaceutical use.

Utilizing enzyme-based technology developed at Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Milwaukee, Wisconsin, molecular bioreagents facility, Dalton will produce poly-inosine (poly-I) and poly-cytosine (poly-C) in accordance with cGMP (current good manufacturing practice) regulations. Poly-I and poly-C are polynucleotides that are used as adjuvants, or catalysts, to stimulate an immune response when combined with other substances in a drug. Dalton will supply these polynucleotides to Oncovir, a pharmaceutical company that will use poly-I and poly-C in vaccine development.

“We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with Thermo Fisher Scientific in order to commercialize their novel biopolymers,” said Peter Pekos, president and CEO of Dalton Pharma Services. “The agreement is timely due to an increased demand for commercial quantities of these molecules as adjuvants for new vaccines. And, this partnership recognizes Dalton’s expertise in cGMP manufacturing and analysis of complex molecules under cGMP conditions.”