Viragen Reports Achievement of Key Avian Transgenics Milestone

Anti-Cancer Antibody Expressed In Chicken Eggs Promises to Revolutionize Drug Production

07-Jun-2005

Viragen, Inc., Roslin Institute (Scotland) and Oxford BioMedica PLC jointly announced a dramatic breakthrough in their pioneering project to develop Avian Transgenic Biomanufacturing with the report of a functional humanized antibody protein incorporated in the whites of eggs laid by a transgenic hen. This technology is expected to offer a lower-cost manufacturing alternative for the production of many protein drugs, with additional potential advantages in the quality of the products.

The therapeutic protein successfully expressed, using Oxford BioMedica's LentiVector® gene delivery system in this proprietary avian system, is a novel structure of an antibody in Viragen's product portfolio being designed to target malignant melanoma. Three other protein-drug candidates are included in ongoing avian expression studies to demonstrate the breadth of its capabilities, including two commercially marketed products, each of which realizes more than $2 billion in annual sales.

Viragen and Roslin confirmed qualitative and quantitative detection, and recovery of humanized antibody from the eggs. The analysis indicates that the expression levels measured are significantly higher than any previously published results for a therapeutic protein produced from an avian transgenic line.

The Project's scientific leader, Roslin Senior Scientist, Dr. Helen Sang, Ph.D., lauded the breakthrough, "We have long believed that this joint effort would develop an avian system capable of efficiently and economically producing human biopharmaceuticals, and with this major milestone achievement, I am even more convinced that we are developing an elite manufacturing platform that should emerge as a method of choice for many products."

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/46618/viragen-reports-achievement-of-key-avian-transgenics-milestone.html