Healthcare Industry News: Taxol
News Release - May 2, 2007
Phyton Biotech Acquires Novel Glyco-Engineering Technology, Adds Enhanced Capacity to Manufacture Therapeutic Proteins
EAST WINDSOR, N.J., May 2 (HSMN NewsFeed) --- Magnus Precht, President of Phyton Biotech, Inc., has announced the acquisition from The Dow Chemical Company of a novel, proprietary technology and intellectual property platform for the engineering of glycosylation in pharmaceutical protein products.This acquisition will be enhanced through a research collaboration with the Dutch research institute Plant Research International (PRI), part of Wageningen University & Research Centre and one of the innovators of the technology platform.
The announcement coincides with another milestone, the installation of a second 75,000 liter bioreactor at Phyton's German cell fermentation facility.
"Our acquisition and collaboration should be viewed vis-a-vis recent developments in the glyco-engineering field, such as Merck's acquisition of GlycoFi and Roche's acquisition of Glycart," said Mr. Precht.
Dr. Laurence Korn, the co-founder and former CEO and Chairperson of PDL (a leader in humanized antibodies) and an industry leader, stressed that this technology complements the unique new protein expression platform that Phyton is developing.
"The glyco-engineering capability Phyton has acquired could allow the company to realize the full potential of its plant cell fermentation expression system," said Dr. Korn, adding that Phyton plans to apply the technology to humanizing glycosylation in monoclonal antibodies, a multi-billion dollar market.
The glyco-engineering technology has the potential to diminish the clinical effects of immunogenicity, optimize drug potency and increase drug half life. For patients, a longer half life can mean less frequent injections.
Phyton is already a leader in plant cell fermentation technology, producing paclitaxel for Bristol-Myers Squibb's Taxol® oncology product.
Phyton Biotech, Inc., is based in East Windsor, N.J. Phyton's proprietary plant cell culture technology platform is used to develop and manufacture products with applications in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Its German subsidiary, Phyton Biotech GmbH, operates the world's largest commercial cGMP manufacturing facility for plant cell fermentation. Visit http://www.phytonbiotech.com.
* Taxol is a registered trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.
Source: Phyton Biotech
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