Dow Chemical licenses Plantibodies from EPIcyte

The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, MI) and EPIcyte Pharmaceutical Inc. (San Diego) have signed a research and licensing agreement to develop and produce monoclonal antibodies from plants, so called "Plantibodies." Monoclonal antibodies are used as both therapeutics and diagnostics, but the cost to produce monoclonals by current technology is quite high. Making antibodies in plants promises to be cheaper by orders of magnitude, according to some.

Under the agreement, the companies will engage in a multi-year collaborative research program, with each company committing the equivalent of 40 fulltime employees. In addition, Dow will supply clinical material to EPIcyte for the development of commercial products. Licenses from EPIcyte for application of the technology in animal health will go to Dow AgroSciences (DAS).

"Plant-based systems can provide significant cost advantages over traditional mammalian cell culture systems to produce antibodies," said said Carolyn Fritz, global business director of biotechnology for Dow. Production from plants is anticipated to lower the capital costs, reduce cost of goods for more complex antibody types, and prove scalable to much greater production volumes than current systems for antibody production. "This new approach to production is expected to increase the utility and application of antibodies for established and innovative uses in human and animal health, as well as certain industrial applications," she said.

Of this agreement, Mich Hein, EPIcyte's president, said, "This effort will expand the leadership position of our Plantibodies technology for production of antibodies and related molecules in plants. In addition to potential income from Dow AgroSciences' Animal Health products and the research and development funding, the commitment of Dow and Dow AgroSciences for manufacturing our initial products will provide EPIcyte's shareholders as much as $50 million in savings on construction and development costs in commercializing our own products."

Potential for the products in animal health will support a new business area for Dow AgroSciences, according to Pete Siggelko, global director of biotechnology and plant genetics for Dow AgroSciences. "We intend to develop a series of innovative plant-based products for food safety and animal disease prevention," he said. "The EPIcyte Plantibodies technology is a key food safety technology platform that we intend to build on. We will first focus on a definitive proof of concept, then follow with an aggressive development effort," Siggelko indicated. Products for animal health and food safety could be launched as early as 2006 or 2007.

Dow provides chemical, plastic, and agricultural products and services to many consumer markets, with annual sales of $19 billion. Dow AgroSciences LLC provides pest management and biotechnology products that improve the quality and quantity of the earth's food supply and contribute to the safety, health, and quality of life of the world's growing population. Dow AgroSciences employs 6,000 people in over 50 countries, and has worldwide sales of more than $2 billion. Dow AgroSciences is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company.

EPIcyte is a four-year-old company developing antibody-based products for the prevention and treatment of infections. The company currently has five antibody products in development. EPIcyte has extensive intellectual property for production of antibodies in plants licensed from The Scripps Research Institute.

For more information: The Dow Chemical Company, 2030 Dow Center, Midland, MI 48674. Tel: 517-636-1000. Fax: 517-636-3518.

Edited by Laura DeFrancesco
Managing Editor, Bioresearch Online

Source: The Dow Chemical Company