Viragen Reports On Avian Transgenic Project.(Brief Article)

2001 NOV 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Viragen, Inc. and Roslin Institute (Scotland) jointly reported on the progress of the Avian Transgenic Project.

Using the same antibody construct previously expressed in chicken cell lines, Viragen and Roslin Institute have produced a chimeric chicken using the technique of zygote injection. This means that the antibody construct, GD3, has been successfully incorporated into the cells of a living chicken.

Early in October 2001, Viragen and Roslin Institute reported the successful production of a functional human therapeutic antibody (GD3) in a chicken cell line (in vitro). The GD3 antibody targets a tumor antigen on the surface of melanoma cells. These achievements provide further evidence of the feasibility of developing a cost-effective, large-scale platform to produce protein-based drugs, including monoclonal antibodies, inside the whites of eggs laid by transgenic hens.

"Viragen recently reported that it has demonstrated the production of a functional human therapeutic antibody which targets a tumor antigen on the surface of melanoma cells," stated Dr. Karen Jervis, Viragen. "This human antibody was a therapeutic antibody which Viragen is currently developing as a part of its oncological projects. Drug companies desirous of using transgenic technology can rely upon this test to indicate the likely success of being able to manufacture their protein using Avian Transgenic Technology.

"There are some previously published research papers which also demonstrate the production of human ...