CYTO I am trying to temper my enthusiasm on GZTC. This could be the biggest winner in our portfolio if transgenic production takes hold. The following announcement is another indication. A huge market for transgenic production is MABs because the required quantities are so great. CHECK this out
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Transgenics, Bristol-Myers Squibb Announce Second Agreement to Develop Recombinant Transgenic Drug
DATE: September 8, 1997
Genzyme Transgenics Corp. (Nasdaq:GZTC) announced today that it has reached
its second agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company of Princeton, NJ, to
develop a humanized monoclonal antibody in the milk of transgenic animals for
the treatment of psoriasis, organ transplant rejection, and several autoimmune
disorders.
Under the agreement, Genzyme Transgenics will develop transgenic goats that
secrete the modified antibody molecule, CTLA4Ig, into their milk. Following
successful completion of the development phase, the companies expect to enter
into a commercialization agreement for scale-up, manufacturing, and marketing
of CTLA4Ig.
CTLA4Ig antibodies work by blocking T-cell stimulation. Although this
stimulation is a normal part of the body?s response to infection, it can cause
the body to reject transplanted organs or to destroy its own tissues in
individuals with autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis. The companies believe
that temporary T-cell suppression by CTLA4Ig may halt the immune response long
enough to improve psoriasis symptoms, allow survival of transplanted organs in
recipients, and slow tissue destruction in autoimmune disease.
"Both our need for gram doses to treat individual cases, and the capital
estimates to manufacture the hundreds of kilograms required as a result,
led us to initiate transgenic production," said Ron Pepin, Ph.D., executive
director of external science and technology at Bristol-Myers Squibb. "We
believe that Genzyme Transgenics? technology may provide a cost-effective
therapeutic product at commercial scale while obviating our need to invest in
a major new capital project."
"We are extremely pleased to be working with Bristol-Myers Squibb on another
promising therapeutic," said James A. Geraghty, Genzyme Transgenics? president
and chief executive officer. "We are particularly gratified that Bristol-Myers
Squibb has initiated a second project with us as a result of getting to know
our company well during our ongoing collaboration."
Bristol-Myers Squibb is currently testing the efficacy of CTLA4Ig for treating
psoriasis in a phase II clinical trial. Psoriasis, a painful, recurrent skin
disease, afflicts about 2.5 million Americans, all of whom require long-term
periodic treatment. Many remain unresponsive to a variety of agents used to
treat this disease, ranging from lubricating creams in mild cases to
methrotrexate, a toxic anti-cancer drug, for severe cases. The market for
psoriasis medications in the U.S. amounts to approximately $400 million
annually.
In addition to developing the antibody to treat psoriasis, Bristol-Myers
Squibb is also developing CTLA4Ig for use against other immune system diseases
including inflammation, allergy, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus.
This news release contains forward-looking information about the expected
completion of a commercial development agreement. Actual results may differ
materially from this projection depending on the results of a phase II trial
on the product being conducted by Bristol-Myers Squibb and on the successful
development of transgenic CTLA4lg.
Genzyme Transgenics is a biotechnology company focused on biopharmaceutical
development through transgenic production of genetically engineered therapeutic
products; specialized contract research services for pharmaceutical,
biotechnology, medical device, and other companies; and the production of
cancer vaccines. Genzyme General (Nasdaq:GENZ) owns approximately 43 percent
of the outstanding stock of Genzyme Transgenics.
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Please call Genzyme's Corporate Communications department at
1-617-252-7570 for additional information.
This press release is forwarded to you automatically by the
Genzyme automatic press release mailing list.
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