Biotech Innovators
A little background and information on innovators:
Drug discovery and development is very expensive, of all compounds that are looked into for use in humans, only a small bit are eventually approved by government appointed medical institutions or boards. Each year, only about twenty-five truly novel drugs are approved for marketing. (Sheila Campbell)
· Genzyme Transgenics is one of the services that is making and selling Antithrombin III. Department of Hematology at the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands conducted studies that helped move this drug forward into the market. (Elora Lopez) Antithrombin III is a naturally occurring protein in human plasma that helps regulate blood clotting. The risk of thrombosis increases so much when people with antithrombin deficiency are put in “high-risk situations.” During a situation like these, people with antithrombin III deficiency are ten - fifty times more likely to develop thrombosis than the normal population. (Elora Lopez) A program was made involving using transgenic goats to create regulatory proteins in their milk, and then creating drugs from the goat-made protein. These drugs would then be used to prevent thrombosis in people with antithrombin III deficiency. (Elora Lopez) They used goats for making these proteins for a good reason. Using goats as the bioreactors for the production of pharmaceuticals allow production to start within 18 months because goats have a short gestation period of about 5 months and reach maturity in 1 year. (Sheila Campbell)
· The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Large Scale Biology (LSBC) have created vaccines for papillomaviruses. Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are a group of more than 100 related viruses. They are called papillomaviruses because certain types may cause warts, or papillomas, which are benign (non-cancerous) tumors. (NCI) The best way to prevent papillomaviruses is to stay away from genital contact with another person. FDA has permitted two vaccines to prevent HPV: Gardasil® and Cervarix®. Both of these vaccines are very effective in preventing persistent infections with HPV types 16, 18, 6, 11, and possibly some more that also cause cancer, but more studying is needed to prove this. (NCI)
· One of Meristem Therapeutics products is collagen. Collagen is a type of protein that is fibrous and connects and supports other bodily tissues. It supports the internal organs and teeth as well. There are more than 25 types of collagens that naturally occur in the body. (wiseGEEK) Having great tensile strength, collagen works in a manner that is different from other types of proteins. For example, it can be found both inside and outside of cells. Collagen fibers are important in providing to the external structure of cells. Collagen fibers are present on the inside of some cells. It also gives body tissues form and provides firmness and strength.
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 This graph is on the market of pharming. The graph shows the number of drug products sold over a period of one year. |
The picture below is a simple diagram showing a goat which was genetically altered, for the benefit of humans, to produce milk with proteins in it that are used as medicinal drugs.  |
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