Cloned pigs to produce human antibodies; Verigen and Tufts University announce new collaboration

Business Wire, April 7, 1997

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--(BW HealthWire)--April 7, 1997--Verigen Inc. announced today the signing of a collaboration agreement with Tufts University's School of Veterinary Medicine in Boston, covering the development of transgenic and cloned pigs ("Pollys") which will produce humanized antibodies.

The agreement is a continuation of Verigen's and Tufts' initial project which, in its first phase, successfully created the cell systems that will be used for the replacement of certain porcine gene segments with human genes. The new collaboration will utilize these systems to produce transgenic and cloned pigs from several humanized biopharmaceutical products, such as immunoglobulins, will be produced.

Verigen's proprietary porcine technology is similar to that used in the recently publicized cloned sheep "Dolly" except that in the process of cloning, certain of the porcine genes are replaced with human genes, producing a pig that expresses specific humanized proteins.

Dr. Kurt Osther, Verigen's chief scientific medical officer, commented, "The joint effort between Tufts and Verigen has the potential to demonstrate the positive contributions genetic engineering and cloning may have in addressing critical medical issues in humans." The principal investigator for this project at Tufts University is Dr. Eric Overstrom, associate professor at the School of Veterinary Medicine.

Verigen Inc. is a privately-owned biopharmaceutical company. In addition to its lead drug development program in polyclonal antibodies for the treatment of autoimmune disease, it also manufactures immunoglobulins and cartilage repair products at its subsidiary in Denmark, Verigen Europe A/S. Following a private placement in the UK last June, Verigen is planning a UK flotation this year, possibly on AIM.

CONTACT: JLM Services Inc., Ridgewood

Jamie Moss, 201/493-1027