pour t8: stratégie industrielle
TITLE: 'Pharming' idea could benefit area
SOURCE: St. Joseph News-Press, USA, by Susan Mires
DATE: Feb 21, 2004
TITLE: Diversa collaborator Syngenta increases 'biopharming' investment
SOURCE: San Diego, USA, by Jennifer McEntee
http://www.sddt.com/News/article.cfm?SourceCode=20040218tbd
DATE: Feb 18, 2004
------------------------------- GENET-news -------------------------------
TITLE: 'Pharming' idea could benefit area
SOURCE: St. Joseph News-Press, USA, by Susan Mires
DATE: Feb 21, 2004
--------------------- archive: www.genet-info.org/ --------------------
'Pharming' idea could benefit area
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Recently retired as a biotechnology executive, Mel Booth is
planning his next move in the industry.
His vision includes a multi-million dollar investment in a pharmaceutical
facility that would involve local farmers, new high-tech jobs and his alma
mater, Northwest Missouri State University.
“I think we have a great opportunity,” Mr. Booth said. “I don’t know how the
business plan will unfold, but I have committed to being a part of it.”
The proposed merger of Northwest into the University of Missouri system will
play a critical role in whether the plan develops.
“It made it a lot more compelling and made me willing to devote more time to
it,” Mr. Booth said.
Researchers and administrators from the University of Missouri met with Mr.
Booth Friday in Maryville. During a public forum, experts talked about
opportunities in biotechnology. Bill Horan, a farmer from Rockwell City, Iowa,
has been growing pharmaceutical crops for four years. The genetically
engineered corn is shipped to France, where it is processed into medication for
cystic fibrosis patients.
This type of “pharming” is the future for the health- care industry, believes
Mr. Booth, former president of Human Genome Sciences and of MedImmune, one of
the world’s 10 largest biotech companies.
“The next step is, in fact, the plant side,” he said. “This is precisely the
geographic area for it to happen.”
Mr. Booth has talked with a group of investors about the potential project. He
said the business plan will drive potential investment, but Mr. Booth, a native
of Bethany, Mo., said Northwest Missouri could see tremendous growth.
“We have an opportunity to grow the crops and process them. How far you take the
processing remains to be seen,” he said.
The merger with the University of Missouri is essential to provide the research
necessary to support the production and processing of biotech crops, said
Northwest President Dr. Dean Hubbard.
“We need to be a part of that family at the table,” Dr. Hubbard said.
Friday’s meeting answered many questions about the potential investment, Dr.
Hubbard said. It’s unclear when the process will move forward.
“We don’t know all the steps, but within two weeks we’ll know,” he said.
Pharmaceutical crops can create high returns for farmers, said Mark Drabenstott,
director of the Center for the Study of Rural America at the Federal Reserve
Bank in Kansas City.
“It also has the potential to create high-skill, high-wage jobs in places where
they are so desperately needed,” he said.
Mr. Booth said he doesn’t want to be at the “bleeding edge” of the new
technology. He believes producers like Mr. Horan have made the process feasible
on a larger scale. It will be key for private and public sectors to work
together, he said.
Dr. Hubbard sees huge economic benefits from the project. A pharmaceutical
factory could bring $100 million in investment and hundreds of high-paying jobs
to Nodaway County, he said. Farmers can grow pharmaceutical crops 14 times
cheaper than the drugs can be manufactured in a laboratory, Mr. Horan said.
“The margin is incredible,” he said. “What portion goes to the farmer, no one
knows.”
Mr. Booth believes biotechnology could revitalize both family farms and rural
communities in Northwest Missouri, but noted the project is still in the
planning stages.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said.
-----------------------------
GENET-news mailing list
-----------------------------
------------------------------- GENET-news -------------------------------
TITLE: Diversa collaborator Syngenta increases 'biopharming' investment
SOURCE: San Diego, USA, by Jennifer McEntee
http://www.sddt.com/News/article.cfm?SourceCode=20040218tbd
DATE: Feb 18, 2004
--------------------- archive: www.genet-info.org/ --------------------
Diversa collaborator Syngenta increases 'biopharming' investment
When Syngenta AG, the world's largest agrochemicals company, said last week it
intended to boost its investment in plant-derived drug research, its San Diego
collaborator recognized the potential for a positive impact on its own
business. Executives for Diversa Corp. (Nasdaq: DVSA) said Friday that
Syngenta's (NYSE: SYT) increased 2004 investment in "biopharming" -- to an
estimated $30 million, from a reported $12 million in 2002 -- was in line with
their expectations. Diversa has a number of research programs with
Switzerland-based Syngenta, including a joint venture to develop animal feed
additives and formulations, and a discovery program focused on altering genes
in crops. In fact, Syngenta is Diversa's almost exclusive partner for
agriculture-related research, according to Diversa Chief Financial Officer
Karin Eastham. Diversa similarly has chemical research collaborations with Dow
Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) and DuPont. Syngenta has an ownership stake in
Diversa, estimated at about 18 percent. Eastham said Diversa doesn't discuss
all of its work with Syngenta, but that the collaboration runs far and wide.
Under a seven-year, $118 million deal that began in 2003, Syngenta and Diversa
have combined their biopharma research activities in genomics and selected
antibody generation. That relationship prompted Syngenta's decision last year
to relocate its plant genomics programs, including its work with the rice
genome, from the Torrey Mesa Research Institute in La Jolla to Syngenta
Biotechnology Inc. in North Carolina. About 77 Torrey Mesa Research Institute
employees were transferred to Diversa, Eastham said. Biopharming falls under
the still murky category of genetic modification. Syngenta has taken the
position that human and animal genes in plant biotechnology could open up new
medical paths, but has stressed that none of its genetically modified crops so
far use human or animal genetic material. Syngenta spokespeople couldn't
specify Friday how the company's increased spending on plant-based drug
research might impact Diversa, but said the existing arrangement with Diversa
has so far been advantageous. "We view this as a long-term commitment to a
relationship that's already producing some good results," Syngenta spokeswoman
Sarah Hull said Friday. Diversa reported last week 2003 revenues of $49
million, up from $31.7 million in 2002. "The increase in revenues was primarily
due to additional research funding from the company's most recent research
collaboration with Syngenta," according to a statement issued by Diversa.
Diversa reported in January that it received milestone payments of $1.7 million
as part of its Syngenta joint venture, called Zymetrics. The payments were
reportedly triggered by Diversa's delivery of several product candidates for
feed and food processing applications, and the regulatory approval of
Zymetrics' Quantum Phytase animal feed enzyme in Mexico. Quantum, designed to
improve how chickens and pigs absorb nutrients from their food, is awaiting a
potential marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
-----------------------------
GENET-news mailing list
-----------------------------