Infigen Announces Birth of First Cloned Sheep Born in North America
PR Newswire, Monday, July 30, 2001 at 08:10
/FROM PR NEWSWIRE 800-682-9599/ [STK] [IN] AGR BIO [SU] TO BUSINESS, NATIONAL, AND SCIENCE EDITORS:
Infigen Announces Birth of First Cloned Sheep Born in North America
Company is World Leader in Cloning Diverse Species of Farm Animals for Use in
Human Healthcare
DEFOREST, Wis., July 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Infigen, Inc. announced today the birth of "Pickles," the first lamb to be cloned in North America. Born July 22, the female makes Infigen the only organization in North America to have successfully cloned three different species of farm animals. The company previously announced clones of dairy and beef cattle as well as domestic pigs. Infigen is a privately held biotechnology company combining genomics and reproductive technologies to advance human health.
"The birth of 'Pickles' is a major milestone for Infigen as it moves farm animal cloning closer to a commercially viable process and expands our proprietary nuclear transfer technology," said Walter Simson, Chief Executive Officer of Infigen.
Infigen used newly developed proprietary procedures to produce five embryos from 25 enucleated eggs. These embryos were transferred into two recipient ewes, resulting in the birth of "Pickles" following a normal gestation period. The adult cell was produced using cells taken from a 10-year-old adult ewe.
There were no complications during the birth, and "Pickles" is in excellent health. The lamb was cloned as part of the company's commercial program involving the production of proteins for possible use as human health products.
"The diversity of cloning applications is extensive. The ability to clone sheep is an important addition to our ability to develop potential new human health products which can be reliably produced in farm animals," said Dr. Michael Bishop, President and Chief Scientific Officer at Infigen. "The birth of 'Pickles' is another remarkable technological achievement for us. We have a special reason for adapting our cloning protocol to sheep."
"Pickles'" birth is the result of Infigen's exclusive in vitro production systems that have been the foundation for its success in the production of cloned cattle and swine. These systems involve oocyte maturation, nuclear transfer and embryo culture techniques.
Separately, Infigen recently announced that it signed a three-year collaboration with Immerge Biotherapeutics, a joint venture of Novartis Pharma AG and BioTransplant Incorporated (NASDAQ:BTRN), to use nuclear transfer (NT) technology to develop genetically modified miniature swine for the study of xenotransplantation (transplantation between species.) This technology may provide a method for the production of modified pig organs that can be designed for use in xenotransplantation.
Infigen will provide Immerge BioTherapeutics exclusive access to its porcine NT technology. Immerge BioTherapeutics will provide proprietary vectors for specific genes, as well as cells from miniature swine. The two companies will jointly develop genetically modified cell lines for NT production of miniature swine. The agreement provides Infigen with licensing fees and research funding for three years, as well as milestone payments.
The Immerge BioTherapeutics/Infigen joint venture is co-funded by a Department of Commerce National Institute for Science and Technology (NIST) Advanced Technology Program Award originally funded in the year 2000 competition.
Infigen is a world leader in the commercial development of proprietary nuclear transfer cloning for use in the human health industry. The company has already produced the world's largest number of transgenic and non-transgenic cloned bovine and porcine, numbering over 165 animals.
About Infigen, Inc.:
Infigen, Inc., formed in August 1997, is a privately-held biotechnology company commercializing its proprietary nuclear transfer cloning in the human health and animal agriculture fields. The company has a strategic partnership with Immerge BioTherapeutics, Inc., a joint venture of Novartis Pharma AG and BioTransplant Incorporated (NASDAQ:BTRN), to develop genetically modified miniature swine for the study of xenotransplantation (transplantation between species). In 2000, Infigen was issued a U.S. patent covering critical processes for cloning any mammal, excluding humans, utilizing Nuclear Transfer. For further information on Infigen, visit www.infigen.com .
This release contains certain forward-looking statements |
