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Crucell N.V.: DSM and Crucell Announce PER.C6(R) License Agreement with CSL Ltd.

^{Published on 2008-12-18 06:59:15 - Market Wire}
 

LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS--(Marketwire - December 18, 2008) -

Leiden, The Netherlands/Parsippany, USA, 18 December 2008 - DSM Biologics, a business unit of DSM Pharmaceutical Products, and Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL; Swiss Exchange: CRX), today announced that CSL Limited, a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, signed a license agreement allowing CSL to develop protein therapeutics for multiple undisclosed disease targets on the PER.C6® platform. Under the terms of the agreement, CSL is responsible for the development of protein and antibody products resulting from this alliance. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"CSL's expertise in the area of drug development and its proven track record of marketed products offer a good match for our PER.C6® production technology," said Ronald Brus, Crucell's Chief Executive Officer. "This alliance is another example of how we can combine our technology with the discoveries brought forth by other biopharmaceutical discovery companies to advance the development of therapeutic products."

"This alliance signifies yet another achievement to bring to fruition our mission to position the PER.C6® production technology as an industry standard," adds Karen King, President of DSM Biologics. "We are pleased to be working with a renowned biopharmaceutical company in which CSL's scientists will be applying their expertise to the development of proteins and antibodies on PER.C6®."

About PER.C6® technology

Crucell's PER.C6® technology platform has been developed for the large-scale manufacture of biopharmaceutical products such as recombinant proteins including monoclonal antibodies. Compared to conventional production technologies, the strengths of PER.C6® technology lie in its excellent safety profile, scalability and productivity under serum-free culture conditions.

About CSL Behring

CSL is a leader in the plasma protein therapeutics industry. Committed to saving lives and improving the quality of life for people with rare and serious diseases, the CSL group manufacturers and markets a range of plasma-derived and recombinant therapies worldwide.

CSL therapies are indicated for the treatment of coagulation disorders including hemophilia and von Willebrand disease, primary immune deficiencies and inherited respiratory disease. The company's products are also used in cardiac surgery, organ transplantation, burn treatment and to prevent hemolytic diseases in newborns. CSL's subsidiary, CSL Behring, operates one of the world's largest plasma collection networks, ZLB Plasma. For more information, visit [ www.csl.com ].

About DSM Biologics

DSM Biologics, a business unit of DSM Pharmaceutical Products, is a global provider of manufacturing technology & services to the biopharmaceutical industry. In addition to offering world- class biopharmaceutical manufacturing services, DSM Biologics has co-exclusive rights, along with Dutch biotech company Crucell N.V., to license the high-producing PER.C6® human cell line as a production platform for recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies. The combination of the PER.C6® human cell line and DSM's manufacturing services provides companies with a turn-key biologic manufacturing solution reducing cost, risk and time to market.

DSM - the Life Sciences and Materials Sciences Company

Royal DSM N.V. creates innovative products and services in Life Sciences and Materials Sciences that contribute to the quality of life. DSM's products and services are used globally in a wide range of markets and applications, supporting a healthier, more sustainable and more enjoyable way of life. End markets include human and animal nutrition and health, personal care, pharmaceuticals, automotive, coatings and paint, electrics and electronics, life protection and housing. DSM has annual sales of almost EUR 8.8 billion and employs some 23,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in the Netherlands, with locations on five continents. DSM is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. More information: [ www.dsm.com ].

About Crucell

Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL; Swiss Exchange: CRX) is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on research, development, production and marketing of vaccines, proteins and antibodies that 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 vaccine 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, an oral cholera vaccine and the only aluminum-free hepatitis A vaccine on the market. The Company has a broad development pipeline, with several product candidates based on its unique PER.C6® production technology. The Company licenses its PER.C6® technology and other technologies to the biopharmaceutical industry. Important partners and licensees include DSM Biologics, sanofi-aventis, Novartis, Wyeth and Merck & Co. Crucell is headquartered in Leiden, the Netherlands, with subsidiaries in Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, Korea and the US. The Company employs over a 1000 people. For more information, please visit [ www.crucell.com ].

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections of the management of DSM and Crucell and information currently available to both companies. The statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and therefore DSM and Crucell do not guarantee that their expectations will be realized. Furthermore, DSM and Crucell have no obligation to update the statements contained in this press release.

Crucell N.V. has identified certain important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements. For information relating to these factors please refer to the Form 20-F, as filed by Crucell N.V. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 7, 2008, and in particular the section entitled "Risk Factors". Crucell N.V. prepares its financial statements under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

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