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Famous Scottish Institute That Revolutionized Science With 'Dolly' Unveils Plans For Life Saving Drugs In Chicken Eggs
Famous Scottish Institute That Revolutionized Science With 'Dolly'
Unveils Plans For Life Saving Drugs In Chicken Eggs
EDINBURGH, Scotland, Dec 6, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Roslin
Institute, the renowned Scottish birthplace of the world's most famous sheep,
Dolly, announced at a special news conference at Edinburgh Castle today their
collaborative project with Viragen, Inc. (Amex: VRA), a U.S. biotech company
based in Plantation, Florida, and Edinburgh, Scotland. The project is designed
to enable biotech and pharmaceutical companies to produce drugs, including
monoclonal antibodies to fight cancer, inside the eggs of specially developed
chickens. In doing so, it will catapult the chicken egg into the scientific
halls of fame.
Speaking at the news conference, Dr. Helen Sang, Roslin Institute's lead
scientist on avian (bird) transgenic technology, said that the cloning of Dolly
was a dramatic scientific breakthrough that served to open the way to new
commercial therapeutic applications. "The essence of this project is to create
chickens which produce eggs containing new drugs to treat many serious diseases,
including cancer," Dr. Sang said. While animals such as cows, sheep, goats and
rabbits are being developed to produce drugs in their milk, avian technology
promises a much faster, cheaper and virtually unlimited production process
marked by the chicken's prolific egg laying capabilities.
Dr. Magnus Nicolson, Viragen's COO, stated, "Now that the human genome has been
mapped, hundreds of new, novel and powerful protein and monoclonal antibody
drugs are under development or proceeding through clinical trials. This
explosion has accelerated the need for expanded production facilities since the
industry's present capacity is extremely limited."
"This collaborative effort is being undertaken to enable the production of a
wide variety of drugs in greater volume and at a fraction of the cost when
compared to conventional manufacturing methods. Only a nominal outlay would be
required to produce the special chicken flocks, thereby eliminating the huge
capital expenditures now required for buying bioreactors and building related
facilities," said Gerald Smith, Chairman and CEO of Viragen. "This undertaking
not only takes into account Viragen's future manufacturing needs but addresses
the future needs of the entire biotech and pharmaceutical industries for
large-scale protein and monoclonal antibody production," concluded Mr. Smith.
The Roslin Institute is the acknowledged world leader in the research and
development of mammalian cloning. Dr. Helen Sang produced the first ever
transgenic chicken by direct injection and is a world-recognized expert in her
field.
For Viragen, this project represents the culmination of a series of
collaborative projects with major institutions, including Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center, New York, for the development of a human monoclonal
antibody for melanoma and other cancers, the U.K.'s Cancer Research Campaign to
develop a cancer vaccine for the treatment of breast, ovarian and colorectal
cancers and the U.S. Government's National Institutes of Health ("NIH") which
licensed Viragen exclusively and globally for its "Notch 1" technology. In
addition to its oncological project, Viragen's lead product, Omniferon(TM), a
leukocyte derived alpha interferon, is in Phase II clinical trials in Europe
targeting hepatitis C, a disease estimated to affect tens of million worldwide.
Other notable Viragen agreements include those with the Common Services Agencies
of the United Kingdom, preferential access to white blood cells collected by the
German Red Cross and America's Blood Centers and an agreement with The American
Red Cross.
The foregoing press release contains forward-looking statements that can be
identified by such terminology such as "expects," "potential," "suggests,"
"may," "will," or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the
actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance
or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. In particular,
management's expectations regarding future research development results could be
affected by, among other things, uncertainties relating to clinical trials and
product development; unexpected regulatory delays or government regulation
generally; the Company's ability to obtain or maintain patent and other
proprietary intellectual property protection; and competition in general.
Corporate Contacts: Mel Rothberg, Executive Vice President,
Phone: (954) 233-8746 Fax: (954) 233-8743; E-mail: mrothberg@viragen.com;
Douglas Calder, Director of Communications,
Phone: (954) 233-8746; Fax (954) 233-8743; E-mail: dcalder@viragen.com.
For more information, please visit our Web site at www.viragen.com or contact
"Company News On Call" at (800) 758-5804, followed by extension 116574.
U.S. PRESS CONTACT: U.K. PRESS CONTACT:
Thomas J. Madden, 561/750-9800 x 11 David Macauley
or Mark Hopkinson 561/750-9800 x 15 Email: davidm@i997.com
Email: mhopkinson@transmediagroup.com
SOURCE Viragen, Inc.
CONTACT: Thomas J. Madden, ext. 11, or Mark Hopkinson, ext. 15, or
mhopkinson@transmediagroup.com, both of TransMedia Group, 561-750-9800, for
Viragen; or in the U.K., David Macauley, e-mail, davidm@i997.com
URL: transmediagroup.com
prnewswire.com
(C) 2000 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
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KEYWORD: Florida
Scotland
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MTC
BIO
SUBJECT CODE: PDT |
