Progen scores half-million manufacturing deal

US biotech Lipid Sciences has signed a $500,000 manufacturing pact with Progen Industries, boosting Progen's already-thriving contract drug manufacturing arm.

The six-month contract calls for Brisbane-based Progen to process human plasma samples taken from healthy volunteers with elevated plasma cholesterol.

In a first for Progen, the deal also gives it management oversight of the Phase I clinical trials which involve the samples.

Progen's vice-president of business development, Peter Devine, said the company's trial management expertise, earned through experience with its lead anti-cancer candidate PI-88 (now in Phase II clinical tests at a number of Australian hospitals) has given the company another string to its revenue bow.

It is understood the trials will be conducted in Queensland hospitals.

Progen's good manufacturing practice (GMP) facilities have won it contract manufacturing deals with half a dozen other companies both in Australia and the US. Its contract manufacturing division was largely responsible for a 46 per cent revenue increase in its most recent half year over the corresponding previous period.

The standard of Progen's facilities was a major factor in its selection, according to Lipid vice-president of clinical research and development, Jan Johansson.

Lipid Sciences' patented technology allows for the removal of lipids, or fatty substances, from plasma without affecting proteins in the blood. Accumulation of lipids such as cholesterol in arteries is a common cause of atherosclerosis and heart disease.

The Californian company is developing products to treat cardiovascular disease and HIV conditions.