Therapeutic Proteins From GE Tobacco Plants: Chlorogen Gets Lucky in Kentucky

Source from:  Tuesday, August 29, 2006 checkbiotech.org By Rachel Melcer 08/30/2006

David Duncan, chief executive of Chlorogen Inc., said a fortuitous turn of events brought his company a partner that could shave years off the development of an ovarian cancer drug. Chlorogen, based in Creve Coeur, has genetically engineered tobacco plants to grow a therapeutic protein -- and had planned to build a plant in Cape Girardeau to extract and purify it. But a new company, Kentucky Bioprocessing LLC, or KBP, was formed in March around a plant-based protein processing facility in Owensboro, Ky., it bought from bankrupt Large Scale Biology Corp. KBP's contract processing capabilities and expertise are a perfect fit for Chlorogen, Duncan said. With its help, Chlorogen could save a year or two in product development -- along with $4 million it would have invested in an $18 million facility at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. "It was extremely fortuitous," Duncan said. "Very rarely do you get lucky in this business, but we (did)." The success of Chlorogen, a company at the cutting edge of the fledgling "biopharming" industry that genetically modifies plants to produce useful proteins, is good for Missouri, say economic development officials. But Chlorogen's good luck is bad news for Southeast Missouri State, which had looked forward to being the company's processing base, said Mike Mills, deputy director of the Department of Economic Development. The Chlorogen facility would have anchored a research center listed among projects for funding through Gov. Matt Blunt's Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative. The initiative -- which would use proceeds from the sale of assets of Missouri's student loan authority to fund capital research and commercialization projects at state universities -- stalled in the Legislature in March. Blunt's plan to revive it was revealed Saturday. If Southeast Missouri State goes ahead with construction, Chlorogen might put its facility to limited use, Duncan said. But his venture capital-backed startup can't justify investing time and money in a new plant when the KBP alternative is available. KBP, a subsidiary of Owensboro Medical Health System, was formed to develop drugs while contributing to that region's economy. It is part of a Kentucky focus on finding alternative uses for its large tobacco crop, Duncan said. "That is a major strategic thrust" that fits well with Chlorogen's business, he said. "Nothing against Missouri, but Kentucky just had that going for it." Chlorogen will remain a Missouri-based company, and continue to use greenhouses at the University of Missouri's Delta Research Center in Portageville to grow crops, Duncan said. But those tobacco plants will be shipped to KBP. If the research collaboration goes well, KBP will conduct Chlorogen's protein extraction, purification and development into a marketable drug, he said. "The hope is that we'd get to that point," Duncan said. Early-stage work already under way "is where we find out if they've got the capability that we think they do. We'll put that to the test." KBP's relationship with Brown Cancer Center in Louisville also could lead Chlorogen to conduct clinical trials there, augmenting a deal the firm has with St. Louis University School of Medicine, Duncan said. Hugh Haydon, chairman of KBP, said his company includes former employees of Large Scale Biology, biopharming pioneers who developed the processing plant. He believes it is the only facility and team in the world that has produced plant-made proteins for commercial sale. Large Scale Biology couldn't afford the high cost of drug development. KBP is a contract manufacturer, with no products of its own. "We've done a lot of different kinds of projects in a lot of different kinds of plants," Haydon said, but he would not reveal other clients. With Chlorogen, "we are very excited about the opportunity that the relationship has," he said. "We appreciate their confidence and we hope that we can help them to succeed -- because If we do that, we succeed, too." Enditem