LSBC finally starting to turn around? This news about the development of lysosomal acid lipase against atherosclerosis, announced before the bell, didn't help much. Perhaps the Sigma Aldrich distribution deal for aprotinin, announced after the bell, will help tomorrow. . . .
>>VACAVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 2004--Large Scale Biology Corporation's (Nasdaq:LSBC - News) exclusive license agreement with Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center for the development of a drug to treat a leading cause of death in the U.S. has entered an initial development stage.
Dr. Gregory A. Grabowski, M.D. co-authored a recent article published in the American Heart Association journal, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, describing decreases in atherosclerotic plaque in mice on high fat diets when lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) was administered. Coronary and aortic plaque were eliminated in early stages and reduced quantitatively and qualitatively in advanced stages.
The initial research phase will be conducted at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center under the direction of Dr. Grabowski. Large Scale Biology Corporation will produce LAL for clinical applications as well as seek commercial partners for the drug.<<
>>VACAVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 2004--Large Scale Biology Corporation (Nasdaq:LSBC - News) today announced that it has entered into a biomanufacturing and commercial distribution agreement with Sigma-Aldrich Fine Chemicals, a division of Sigma-Aldrich Inc. (Nasdaq:SIAL - News) of St. Louis, Missouri, for LSBC's plant-produced recombinant aprotinin product (APRONEXIN(TM) NP) for R&D and manufacturing applications.
Aprotinin is a protease inhibitor commercially marketed for medical, research and biomanufacturing applications. Unlike LSBC's APRONEXIN(TM) NP, aprotinins on the market today are derived by extraction from bovine lungs. Supply constraints and the continuing concern over pathogen contamination of animal-derived products create a potential need for safe, abundantly produced aprotinin.
Under the multi-year supply agreement, LSBC will manufacture recombinant aprotinin using its proprietary GENEWARE® gene expression system. GENEWARE® technology is unique in its use of harmless plant-viruses to express proteins such as aprotinin in non-transgenic, non-food/feed plants of the tobacco family. Plant-produced aprotinin will be grown and processed at LSBC's state-of-the art biomanufacturing facility in Owensboro, Kentucky. Sigma-Aldrich will commercially distribute LSBC's recombinant product to its wide base of customers in the R&D, cell culture and manufacturing markets. Additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
In January LSBC announced that it was shipping trial quantities of its APRONEXIN(TM) NP product for evaluation by prospective customers and distributors. The Company is on track to begin sales of its research-grade aprotinin by mid-year. "Our new relationship with Sigma-Aldrich is one of several in development and underscores our commitment to commercialize our products by partnering with recognized leaders in life science marketing and sales," stated Kevin Ryan, LSBC's President and CEO. "Revenues derived from these commercial alliances will help accelerate development and commercialization of our rich pipeline of products for pharmaceutical, animal health and industrial markets," Mr. Ryan added.
While LSBC was founded on the bases of novel gene expression and protein analysis and production platforms, since the spring of 2003 LSBC's business model has been aggressively focused on development and commercialization of products. Key to the Company's strategy is the formation of alliances with class-leading collaborators to accelerate commercialization of proprietary and partnered molecules. "We expect the partnering model for commercial distribution to provide the near-term leverage to get our products to end-users and to generate the most value for LSBC. Our new alliance with Sigma-Aldrich is the first of several we expect to announce in 2004," Mr. Ryan concluded.<<
Cheers, Tuck |
