Intas Biopharmaceuticals, a group company of Intas Pharmaceuticals Limited has entered into a joint venture with Progenetics LLC, a US based company which has created transgenic animals producing Factor-IX (a drug used for treatment of Hemophilia-B), in milk. As per the agreement Intas Biopharmaceuticals would develop drugs from such transgenic animals, carry out clinical trials and launch the drugs in India and in overseas markets.

Intas Biopharmaceuticals would be the first Indian biotech company to make drugs from transgenic animals and plans to set up a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Ahmedabad to develop drugs and carry out trials.

The first drug to be developed through this technology by Intas Biopharmaceuticals would be Factor IX which is used for the treatment of Haemophilia B, a life-threatening genetic disorder that affects the blood clotting function.

The technology is based on "transgenesis" which involves the introduction of the gene (DNA) into the germline of farm animals such as cows, sheep, goat, pigs and rabbits by using techniques of genetic engineering. The recombinant protein encoded by the transgene is then expressed in the mammary glands during lactation. Milk from these farm animals become a rich source of the recombinant proteins offering a huge cost advantage because of high productivity over the conventionally employed recombinant microorganism for the production of valuable pharmaceutical products.

Dr Urmish Chudgar, Managing Director, Intas Biopharmaceuticals said, "Products like Factor IX with a very limited market potential are often neglected by pharma companies. It is estimated that over 5000 patients in India do not have any drug to cure Haemophilia B. We hope to bring relief through our joint commitment by working together towards drug development and treatment for patients suffering from Haemophilia B."

Dr Julian Cooper, CEO of Progenetics, LLC said, "We are pleased to enter into this alliance with Intas Biopharmaceuticals as we believe the synergy will help our companies expand our key strengths and also provide the best medical cure to the patients in India and world over ."

IBPL is aiming to be a global supplier for transgenic animal platform based products and the company plans to utilize the same transgenic platform for expression of other recombinant proteins in milk to fulfil the objective of the National Haemophilia Foundation & the World Federation of Haemophilia.

Intas Biopharmaceuticals is a group company of Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd, one the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in India. The company initiated its foray in biotechnology in May 2000 with the setting up of Indus Biotherapeutics Ltd., IBPL is working on fermentation and cell culture based technology platforms to derive biopharmaceutical recombinant protein and has set up a manufacturing plant for bulk and finished formulation meeting stringent cGMP norms.

US-based Progenetics, a privately owned company specializes in maintaining transgenic animals under US-FDA norms. The company is an innovator for breeding transgenic pigs supplying Factor products and plans to develop various clotting factor products in associations with various companies world over.