Since BioAgri has made a breakthrough
in gene-transfer technology to generate transgenic chickens for producing
therapeutic protein from eggs, we are now concentrating our business in:
(1) Manufacturing contract service for
pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies’ research and clinical trials
BioAgri provides manufacturing contract service to produce large quantities of
human therapeutic proteins from chicken egg whites under cGMP process standards
with a 10-fold lower cost than mammalian cell fermentation.
(2) New protein drug development
We are biomanufacturing alpha-1 antitrypsin from transgenic chicken eggs for
alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AAT deficiency) treatment, which is one of
three lethal inherited disorders among Caucasians, the other two common lethal
genetic defects being cystic fibrosis and Down syndrome. This genetic defect
afflicts one per 3000-5000 individuals; 160,000-200,000 patients in the US and
Western Europe are suffering from this disease. Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
has been characterized by a marked reduction in serum levels of a naturally
occurring protein called alpha-1 antitrypsin (also known as AAT) that causes
emphysema, cirrhosis, and/or panniculitus. From estimates, a patient would have
to receive 6 g AAT/per week to maintain the normal level in blood. The current
manufacturing capacity in bacteria, yeast and mammalian cell fermentation is
unlikely to meet this requirement. Our transgenic chicken technology should be
able to manufacture large enough quantities for AAT deficiency treatment.
(3) Biogeneric drug development
In our generic therapeutic protein program, we have already proceeded to
manufacture a few patent-expired therapeutic proteins and expect to enter into
clinical trials in the next few years. We have formed a joint venture with
BioProMed, a biotech company in Taiwan, and are negotiating partnerships with
other pharmaceutical companies worldwide to co-develop and market low cost
generic human therapeutic proteins with our transgenic chicken process.
