Vacaville-based Large Scale Biology Corp. and Icon Genetics have entered into a collaborative agreement to develop a biopharmaceutical product

03/02/2005 07:26:04 AM

Biotech firms to develop product jointly

By Reporter Staff

Vacaville-based Large Scale Biology Corp. and Icon Genetics have entered into a collaborative agreement to develop a biopharmaceutical product for a major therapeutic market. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The alliance centers on the synergistic application of LSBC's and Munich-based Icon Genetics' patented gene expression and biomanufacturing resources with the goal of developing and commercializing a defined therapeutic product, the manufacture of which by conventional technologies has proven difficult and expensive.

Both companies biomanufacture their own and client-specified therapeutic proteins using non-food/fodder, non-recombinant plants in safe, contained production environments. The goal of the new collaboration is to accelerate development of a difficult-to-produce pharmaceutical by pooling the technical strengths of each company's plant-based platform.

"This collaboration will help accelerate the development of an important product, whose availability and cost have been hampered by inefficient manufacturing methods," said Kevin J. Ryan, president and chief executive officer of Large Scale Biology.