Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

GTCB-Nexia in license deal:

[Financial terms were not disclosed, but Nexia's biodefense program is pretty hot these days (#msg-4086059). It can't be bad for GTCB to have a piece of the action, however small it might be.]

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040923/235189_1.html

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GTC Biotherapeutics Grants License to Technology to Support Nexia Biotechnologies' Protexia

Thursday September 23, 8:30 am ET

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. & MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 2004--GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc. ("GTC", Nasdaq: GTCB) and Nexia Biotechnologies Inc. ("Nexia", TSX: NXB) announced today that they have signed an exclusive agreement for GTC to license its transgenic technology for Nexia to continue the development, manufacture, and sale of Protexia®. This licensing agreement includes access to GTC's beta casein promoter and an option to license its filtration technology, which has been demonstrated to have utility for initial purification of Protexia®. Protexia® is a recombinant form of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) produced in the milk of Nexia's transgenic goats. BChE is a naturally occurring enzyme found in the circulatory system of humans and acts as a bioscavenger which may be used to prevent the toxic effects of nerve agents and other organophosphate compounds. Protexia® is being developed by Nexia jointly with the US Army Medical Research Materiel Command (USAMRMC), and with Defence R&D Canada Suffield (DRDC Suffield), for therapeutic and prophylactic applications. The financial terms of the licensing agreement were not disclosed.

"Protexia® has the potential to be an important biodefense product," stated Geoffrey F. Cox, Ph.D., GTC's Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased to be able to license our intellectual property for the development of Protexia®."

"GTC's casein promoter and filtration technology are important and a proven component of Nexia's manufacturing process for Protexia®," commented Jeffrey D. Turner, Ph.D., President & CEO of Nexia. "The technology GTC and Nexia are putting together enables the development of this innovative biotech-based medicine to counter a significant chemical weapons threat globally and at home."

Nexia is working with the USAMRMC under the Broad Agency Announcement contract and a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement. Research and testing of Protexia® is also being developed under a three-year, funded Development & Testing Agreement with DRDC Suffield. Nexia has reported that Protexia® has delivered broad spectrum protection against multiple lethal doses of nerve agents in animal models. In addition, Nexia has reported that in animal models a single injection of Protexia® delivers sustained elevation of BChE levels in the blood, where it neutralizes the deleterious toxic effects of nerve agents.

The Protexia® program has begun the stages of herd scale-up, purification process development, and preclinical studies to support the filing of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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