Bioprotein raises €520K from existing investors

Funding

BioProtein Technologies of Jouy-en-Josas, France, a company specialising in the production of therapeutic proteins in the milk of transgenic rabbits, has raised €520,000 from existing shareholders. The brings the amount the company has raised since its formation in 1998 to €11 million.

Alexandre Fouassier, Chief Operating Officer, said, “We are delighted to have completed this capital increase with our shareholders who maintain their historical support and confidence in the development of BioProtein. With this strengthening of our capital, we will continue to develop our technology platform and reinforce our expertise in the fields of molecular biology and embryology.

“We are currently developing optimised transgenic strains enabling us to produce more efficiently complex glycosylated proteins and recombinant vaccines in the milk of transgenic rabbits.”

BioProtein develops genetically improved strains, and also strains producing less natural milk proteins, thus facilitating the purification of the therapeutic protein from the milk.

The company is also working on the development of a proprietary therapeutic protein for the prevention and treatment of septic shock.

Rabbits offer great advantages in terms of scale-up and time-to-market and can produce up to 10-15 litres of milk per year. From the annual production of few hundred rabbits, several kilograms of protein can be isolated and purified to a very high quality.

BioProtein Technologies has expertise across the entire manufacturing process from genes or cDNA expression to animal production and milking. The company has produced complex and difficult-to-express proteins, including monoclonal antibodies, plasma proteins, hormones and antigens.