SAFC^®, a member of the Sigma-Aldrich^® Group (NASDAQ: SIAL), and Novozymes Biopharma DK A/S today announced a 10-year extension of their joint agreement under which SAFC retains exclusive marketing and distribution rights for Novozymes Biopharma's LONG^®R³IGF-I (LONG^®R³) growth factor used for industrial cell culture applications. The highly potent growth factor is manufactured specifically for customers in the cell culture market, to enable them to reduce operational and regulatory complexity and minimize manufacturing risk.  

LONG^®R³ is expected to enhance the productivity and performance of industrial cell culture processes, replacing insulin in cell culture, specifically binding to type I IGF receptors to stimulate cell growth and support survival in serum-free media. 

The growth factor offers customers a range of benefits from ease-of-use and flexibility to reduced complexity of manufacturing processes and superior performance. LONG^®R³ provides increased cell density, higher viability and extended culture duration, without compromising on safety or regulatory compliance. 

Michael D. James, marketing manager, SAFC, said, "SAFC is thrilled to continue our collaboration with Novozymes Biopharma.  This exclusive 10-year agreement is expected to enhance SAFC's market-leading position as a critical raw material supplier into the biologic and vaccine markets.  It is exciting to see how the unique attributes of LONG^®R³ meet key development and manufacturing challenges as cell culture processes continue to become more sophisticated." 

Peter Rosholm, vice president, Novozymes Biopharma, said: "Novozymes Biopharma is very pleased to extend this successful partnership with SAFC. We are committed to supplying quality products for use in cell culture applications that reduce operational and regulatory complexity and minimize manufacturing risk. The outlook for LONG^®R³ is extremely positive as it uniquely offers both potency and innovation and we look forward to working closely with SAFC to service customers in this market." 

For more information on LONG^®R³, visit: http://www.safcglobal.com/your_insulin_alternative