OXFORD BIOMEDICA AND VIRAGEN REPORT PROGRESS IN AVIAN TRANSGENICS BIOMANUFACTURING
RNS Number:7395I
Oxford Biomedica PLC
17 February 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 17 FEBRUARY 2005
OXFORD BIOMEDICA AND VIRAGEN REPORT PROGRESS IN AVIAN TRANSGENICS
BIOMANUFACTURING
Anti-cancer Antibody Expressed in Rooster
Oxford, UK: 17 February 2005 - Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB), the leading gene
therapy company, today announced progress in the programme of its collaborative
partner Viragen, Inc (AMEX: VRA). Viragen, in collaboration with the Roslin
Institute, is developing avian transgenic biomanufacturing for the purpose of
using chickens as bioreactors for the efficient and economical production of
human pharmaceutical protein-based drugs in their eggs.
Viragen reported that an antibody designed to treat malignant melanoma (anti-GD3
antibody) has been successfully detected in the blood of a founder transgenic
rooster after the antibody was introduced using Oxford BioMedica's proprietary
LentiVector(R) gene delivery system. This achievement is the first in a series of
steps designed to confirm that a humanised antibody can be produced in
subsequent generations of chickens and demonstrate a fully intact structure
capable of its intended therapeutic function.
Project Leader, Roslin's Dr. Helen Sang, explained: "We have previously
demonstrated that a reporter gene can be synthesised in the oviduct of laying
hens, the source of egg white proteins. The significance of this new milestone
is that we are now using a humanised anti-cancer antibody which has been
incorporated into the bird's DNA."
Dr. Sang also discussed the project's goal to demonstrate tissue-specific
expression in the oviduct: "We have now shown that a protein can be synthesised
in the oviduct of transgenic hens, the source of egg white proteins. These
results indicate that we are well advanced towards our stated target of
tissue-specific expression of a therapeutic protein - a key milestone in our
development plan."
"These collective results are extremely encouraging and give us good reason to
believe that additional important milestones could be reported in the coming
months," stated Viragen's President and CEO, Mr. Charles A. Rice. "We are
developing similar work utilising a second therapeutic protein which has global
sales of approximately $2 billion. As we continue to realise these significant
milestone events, the time is approaching for scheduling meetings with the
appropriate international regulatory agencies, including the FDA, to determine
the steps that will be required to bring this exciting technology to the
market."
In other avian transgenic-related news, it was announced that a scientific
article has been published in Drug Discovery Today (Volume 10, Number 3,
February 2005). The article, titled "Transgenic chickens as bioreactors for
protein-based drugs", reports on significant advances to develop avian
transgenics.
Co-authored by Dr. Helen Sang*, the article concludes that: "Recent improvements
of transgenic technology for chickens and preliminary results on protein
expression in birds are encouraging." |
