Tuesday May 8, 9:21 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Infigen, Inc. and Immerge BioTherapeutics, Inc.
Infigen and Immerge BioTherapeutics Announce
Collaboration To Clone Knock-Out Pigs for
xenotransplantation Research
Joint Venture Funded by Department of Commerce Advanced
Technology Program Grant
DEFOREST, Wis., and CHARLESTOWN, Mass., May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Infigen, Inc., a
privately held biotechnology company combining genomics and technologies to advance both
human health and agriculture, and Immerge BioTherapeutics, Inc. a joint venture of Novartis
Pharma AG and BioTransplant Incorporated (Nasdaq: BTRN - news), have signed a
three-year collaboration 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.
The Infigen technology provides a platform to potentially achieve precise and controlled
genetic modifications in the pig genome. The combined program is expected to allow the
generation of modified miniature swine cells, tissues and organs designed so that the human
immune system will not reject the transplant. This technology will be used to modify a line of
pigs being developed by Immerge BioTherapeutics that does not produce porcine
endogenous retrovirus (PERV) capable of productively infecting human cells. Risk of PERV
infection of human host tissues has been cited as a theoretical barrier to xenotransplantation.
``Immerge BioTherapeutics considers this agreement an important step toward realizing the medical and commercial potential
of xenotransplantation, which will launch a new branch of transplantation therapy for the benefit of patients worldwide,'' said
Julia Greenstein, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Immerge BioTherapeutics. ``Our collaboration combines the
expertise of three global leaders whose contributions have proven critical to advances in this new field of medicine: Novartis,
BioTransplant and Infigen.''
Infigen is the only company in the world to have published the reproducible production of litters of cloned piglets (``Production
of cloned pigs from in vitro systems,'' Betthauser et al, Nature Biotechnology vol.18, October 2000) and in February 2001
became the first company worldwide to report the generation of transgenic cloned piglets. Previously, Infigen had announced
milestone payments from Novartis Pharma for success in developing a repeatable porcine cloning process and in subsequently
producing the world's first transgenic cloned pigs using Infigen's proprietary NT-based cloning system. The company has
produced more than 30 cloned piglets, and has demonstrated that its NT process works equally with both genetically modified
cells and non-modified cells.
``Our new partnership creates an unprecedented opportunity for the study, and the anticipated development of, a potentially
unlimited source of replacement tissues, organs and cells, for the betterment of human health,'' said Michael Bishop, Ph.D.,
president and chief scientific officer of Infigen.
``This optimism is based in part on the continued access this agreement will afford us to the scientists and technologies available
through Novartis and BioTransplant, which we shared so successfully under our previous relationship,'' said Walter Simson,
chief executive officer of Infigen.
Xenotransplantation has the potential to provide a lifeline for the thousands of people waiting for an organ. According to the
United Network for Organ Sharing, in the United States, more than 75,000 people are on the organ waiting list and 15 of these
people will die each day waiting for an organ to become available. Immerge BioTherapeutics was formed to develop
xenotransplantation technology to address this unmet medical need.
Immerge BioTherapeutics uses its proprietary technologies to re-educate the body's immune responses to allow tolerance of
foreign cells, tissues and organs. Based on this technology, originally from BioTransplant, the company is developing a portfolio
of products for application in a range of medical conditions, including organ and tissue transplantation. Immerge
BioTherapeutics develops these products based on the transgenic pig technology from Novartis and the proprietary inbred
miniature swine from BioTransplant.
Infigen is a world leader in the commercial development of proprietary nuclear transfer cloning in the human health and animal
agriculture industries. The Company has already produced the world's largest herd of transgenic and non-transgenic cloned
cattle using different cell types and breeds of cattle, in partnership with Pharming N.V., Leiden, The Netherlands. Infigen
recently completed the auction of a future clone of a famous Holstein dairy cow, Mandy, at the World Dairy Expo held in
Madison, Wisconsin. This sale demonstrated the commercial viability of the company's NT cloning technology. Infigen markets
its agricultural products under the trademark name of Genmark. In addition to its AgriCloning® products, Genmark also
markets an extensive line of gene based diagnostic tests. Additional information on Infigen and Genmark can be found on the
Internet, at infigen.com and genmarkag.com, respectively.
The NIST Advanced Technology Program provides cost-shared funding to industry for high-risk R&D projects with the
potential to spark important, broad-based economic benefits for the United States. The awards are made on the basis of a
rigorous competitive review. Information on the program is available at nist.gov.
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SOURCE: Infigen, Inc. and Immerge BioTherapeutics, Inc. |
