TUSTIN, Calif., Aug. 09, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avid Bioservices, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPHM) (NASDAQ:PPHMP), today announced that the company will have a significant presence at Cambridge Healthtech Institute's (CHI) 8^th Annual The Bioprocessing Summit, being held August 15-19, 2016 in Boston, MA.  The company's vice president of process sciences, Pete Gagnon, will make a presentation centered on the role of protein A in biomanufacturing and will serve as one of three expert participants for a panel discussion on technology advancements that can assist biological drug manufacturers in achieving optimal viral clearance during the performance of downstream purification processes.

Details of this presentation and panel discussion are as follows:

In addition, Avid will host a corporate booth (#200) in the conference's exhibit hall where it will showcase the company's comprehensive range of process development, high quality cGMP clinical and commercial manufacturing services for the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries.  These include a variety of innovative processes for generating a broad range of biopharmaceutical product types such as monoclonal antibodies, highly-glycosylated recombinant proteins and enzymes, among others.  These capabilities also extend to the manufacture of biosimilar products and are designed to support the overall ongoing growth of the company's contract manufacturing business.

Avid will also provide a virtual tour of Peregrine's recently-commissioned 40,000 square foot state-of-the-art commercial biomanufacturing suite (Myford facility), which is operated by Avid.  The Myford facility is designed to utilize the most cutting-edge, single-use equipment to accommodate a fully disposable biomanufacturing process for late Phase III clinical and commercial production of biologics.  The facility is capable of operating in campaign mode whereby multiple bioreactors are simultaneously in operation, which improves the facility's manufacturing capacity and efficiency.  The recently commissioned Myford facility has completed an initial process validation campaign with a second process validation currently underway and two more planned for later this year. 

Furthermore, in response to demand for manufacturing services, Peregrine is now designing a third manufacturing facility dedicated to clinical manufacturing that will significantly increase Avid's manufacturing capacity.  The new clinical suite is expected to be complete and ready for clinical phase manufacturing activities by mid-2017.  

For more information on CHI's 8^th Annual The Bioprocessing Summit, please visit: http://www.bioprocessingsummit.com/

About Avid Bioservices
Avid Bioservices provides a comprehensive range of process development, high quality cGMP clinical and commercial manufacturing services for the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries. With over 15 years of experience producing monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins in batch, fed-batch and perfusion modes, Avid's services include cGMP clinical and commercial product manufacturing, purification, bulk packaging, stability testing and regulatory strategy, submission and support. The company also provides a variety of process development activities, including cell line development and optimization, cell culture and feed optimization, analytical methods development and product characterization. For more information about Avid, please visit www.avidbio.com.

About Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company committed to improving the lives of patients by delivering high quality pharmaceutical products through its contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) services and through advancing and licensing its investigational immunotherapy and related products.  Peregrine's in-house CDMO services, including cGMP manufacturing and development capabilities, are provided through its wholly-owned subsidiary Avid Bioservices, Inc. (www.avidbio.com), which provides development and biomanufacturing services for both Peregrine and third-party customers.  The company is also working to evaluate its lead immunotherapy candidate, bavituximab, in combination with immune stimulating therapies for the treatment of various cancers, and developing its proprietary exosome technology for the detection and monitoring of cancer.  For more information, please visit www.peregrineinc.com.

Contacts:

Kelly Pisarev Lord

Avid Bioservices, Inc.

(800) 987-8256



Stephanie Diaz (Investors)

Vida Strategic Partners

415-675-7401

sdiaz@vidasp.com



Tim Brons (Media)

Vida Strategic Partners

415-675-7402

tbrons@vidasp.com

Source: Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc.

News Provided by Acquire Media