GCOR-No doubt in my mind. Although no business ties to Corning. The Corning culture to establish joint ventures is alive and well at GCOR. This looks to possible be another.
Genencor and Health Protection Agency, Porton Down, Develop Method to Inactivate Prions
PR Newswire ~ February 24, 2004 ~ 6:00 am EST
PALO ALTO, Calif. and PORTON DOWN, England, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genencor International, Inc. (Nasdaq: GCOR) and the United Kingdom's Health Protection Agency, Business Division (HPA) announced today the partners have developed an enzyme-based method that effectively eliminates prions. Data to be presented today at a Cambridge Healthtech Institute conference on Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies in Washington D.C. will highlight success in inactivating Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) prions using a proprietary thermostable Genencor protease enzyme, as demonstrated using an in vivo mouse model. Prions are widely seen as the causative agent of BSE and its human form, variant Cruetzfelt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). The HPA-GCOR process is compatible with standard processes now used in hospitals to clean and sterilize surgical instruments. Genencor plans to commercialize the technology in hospital and dental surgery settings as soon as regulatory approval has been received.
The data, which is the result of the on going partnership between Genencor and HPA, focuses on the use of protein-engineered proteases selected for the ability to target and inactivate the BSE prion molecule. During the course of this work, HPA scientists found that in vitro assays were an unreliable indicator of inactivation and confirmed the need for stringent in vivo studies. HPA's mouse assay used direct inoculation of protease-treated prion contaminated material. HPA also reported evidence of prion inactivation in rendered meat and bone meal.
"We are extremely encouraged by the results that we have demonstrated with the Genencor protease and are confident that our new data demonstrates a way to substantially inactivate prions that can be widely deployed," said Neil Raven, Ph.D., prion research director at HPA, Porton Down. "Our experiments are very relevant in a real world situation in that they used the specific BSE prion in animal studies."
The partners are preparing a data package for submission to regulatory authorities in the European Union for certification of the process to enzymatically decontaminate surgical instruments. Once regulatory approval is granted, Genencor plans to commercialize the proprietary product and sell the enzyme-based disinfectant formulation to hospitals and dental surgery centers. The company is also exploring opportunities to sell the product into the meat processing industry.
"We are pleased that the systematic and unique work our partner has done in demonstrating efficacy of our prion disinfectant is ready for regulatory review, " said Tom Pekich, group vice president of Bioproducts for Genencor. "Now we'll be completing our commercialization plan and preparing the market for the introduction of a new product. We will be following that with a market assessment of the meat processing industry."
About Genencor
Genencor International, Inc. (www.genencor.com) is a diversified biotechnology company that develops and delivers innovative products and services into the health care, agri-processing, industrial and consumer markets. Using an integrated set of technology platforms, Genencor's products deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to many of the problems of everyday life.
Genencor traces its history to 1982 and has grown to become a leading biotechnology company, with over $383 million in year 2003 annual revenues. Genencor has principal offices in Palo Alto, California; Rochester, New York; and Leiden, the Netherlands.
About HPA
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is a national organization for England and Wales. It is dedicated to protecting people's health and reducing the impact of infectious diseases, chemical hazards, poisons and radiation hazards. It brings together the expertise of health and scientific professionals working in public health, communicable disease, emergency planning, infection control, laboratories, poisons, chemical, and radiation hazards.
HPA Porton Down's core business areas are research and development of vaccines and therapeutics against infectious diseases, process development and GMP manufacture of biologics derived from microbial fermentation -- particularly those requiring containment or focused on the bio-defence market. In addition a wide range of support services are offered from biosafety, through GLP immunoassay testing to in-vivo studies and the supply of cell cultures.
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning the planned manufacturing and commercialization of enzymes. These include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and all other statements which are other than statements of historical fact, including without limitation, statements containing words such as "believes," " anticipates," "expects," "estimates," "projects," "will," "may," "might" and words of a similar nature. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Some important factors that could cause actual results to differ include dependence on the efforts of third parties; dependence on new and uncertain technology and its uncertain application to new business ventures; regulatory actions or delays, or uncertainties related to product development, testing or manufacturing; ability to form and maintain strategic alliances; ability to complete certain transactions and realize anticipated benefits from acquisitions; dependence on certain intellectual property rights of both Genencor and third parties; the competitive nature of Genencor's industry; and risks of obsolescence of certain technology. These and other risk factors are more fully discussed in Genencor's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K or Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained in this release represent the judgment of Genencor as of the date of this press release. Genencor disclaims, however, any intent or obligation to update any forward- looking statements.
SOURCE Genencor International, Inc.
/CONTACT: media, Angie Blackwell, +1-585-256-5200, or Valerie Tucker,
cell, +1-415-806-3114, or investors, Tom Rathjen, +1-650-846-7500, or in
Europe, Ana Maria Bravo-Angel, +31-71-5686-151, all of Genencor International,
Inc.; or Phil Luton of HPA, +44-198-0612725/
/Web site: genencor.com /
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