GTC Biotherapeutics (fka GTCB)

[DewDiligence]

SemBioSys Issued 20th U.S. Patent

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060907/to394.html?.v=4

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Thursday September 7, 7:00 am ET

- Patent protects Canadian Biotechnology Company's plant production of antibodies -

CALGARY, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - SemBioSys Genetics Inc. (TSX: SBS), a biotechnology company developing a broad pipeline of protein-based pharmaceuticals and non-pharmaceutical products, today announced it has been granted U.S. patent 7,098,383 entitled "Methods for the production of multimeric immunoglobulins, and related compositions". The claims of the patent are directed to the production of antibodies in association with oilbodies.

"Antibodies are becoming an increasingly important form of therapeutics. The technology protected by this patent opens up new product opportunities for SemBioSys in the production of antibodies and other complex proteins. We believe our oilbody-oleosin technology is an efficient method for antibody production and recovery with substantial savings in both capital and cost-of-goods," said Andrew Baum, President and CEO of SemBioSys. "This patent demonstrates our commitment to protect our proprietary oilbody-oleosin technology and further strengthens our industry leading position for the production of proteins in plants."

In addition to the current patent, SemBioSys was also issued another U.S. patent 7,091,401 entitled "Expression of Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) in plant seeds" on August 15, 2006, which covers chimeric nucleic acid sequences and methods of expression of EGF in plants and plant seeds. EGF is a human cytokine that has been shown to be important in many cellular regeneration processes including the proliferation of nerve and brain cells.

About SemBioSys Genetics Inc. (www.sembiosys.com)

Calgary, Alberta-based SemBioSys Genetics Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on the development, commercialization and production of biopharmaceuticals and non-pharmaceutical products based on its plant genetic engineering skills and proprietary oilbody-oleosin technology platform - the Stratosome(TM) Biologics System. Its two lead pharmaceutical product candidates are insulin and a developmental cardiovascular drug called Apo AI. It also has a series of non-pharmaceutical products addressing animal and aquaculture health, nutritional oils and human topical markets. SemBioSys currently has funded partnership agreements with Martek Biosciences Corporation, Lonza Inc. and Arcadia Biosciences, Inc.
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