BAC is a leading provider of antibody-based affinity purification technology in the world. Over the past few months the company has been active in expanding its presence in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. The Netherlands-based BAC discovers, develops and manufactures affinity ligands and affinity purification products serving the growing market of biopharmaceutical research and production.

In 2012, BAC signed deals with leading international players like Bristol-Myers Squibb, Life Technologies and GE Healthcare for different technologies and application and is now exploring avenues in the Asian market. BioSpectrum caught up with Dr Sierkstra, during his visit to Singapore and learned about the company's activities and future plans.

How has the journey been for BAC until now? What are the specialized technologies that BAC is offering?
BAC started as a subsidiary of Unilever in 1999 and followed a successful spin-out in 2005. The company currently employs 37 people and has R&D and manufacturing operations in the Netherlands. BAC's products for non-good manufacturing practices (GMP) separation and detection are sold worldwide through its offices in the Netherlands with over 30 products sold to more than 300 different customers worldwide. BAC also offers its technology and products for large scale purification under certified-GMP, through various partners such as GE Healthcare.

BAC's extensive product line ranges from affinity resins for the purification of virtually any antibody format, including IgA, IgM and Fab fragments, to a collection of products for biosimilars purification and a number of products that can be used for analytical testing. BAC's CaptureSelect purification and affinity separation products are provided for the discovery, pre-clinical and clinical manufacturing of therapeutic proteins, including antibodies and antibody fragments.

Along with the products needed for the purification of all sorts of biologicals, BAC also offers a bespoke custom development service for generating product and process specific affinity solutions to its customers.