Licensing deal
Pharming Group NV of Leiden, the Netherlands, has acquired an exclusive sub-licence to recombinant fibrinogen patents and technology from GTC Biotherapeutics Inc, enabling the Dutch company to accelerate development of its human fibrinogen product.
The licences are to recently issued patents owned by the American Red Cross, Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Inc and the University of North Carolina, on the production of recombinant fibrinogen in milk of transgenic animals, which are licensed to GTC. The licence agreement includes an upfront payment to GTC of approximately €350,000 plus royalties on sales.
Pharming already owns several patents and licences on recombinant fibrinogen and recombinant tissue sealant compositions, and the acquisition of the licence from GTC further broadens and strengthens the company’s position in this field.
Pharming is developing its recombinant fibrinogen as a replacement therapy for genetic and acquired deficiencies of fibrinogen. The company says it has successfully produced high levels of fibrinogen, a complex molecule consisting of several subunits folded together in fixed ratios. In laboratory tests and initial animal studies, this has been demonstrated to be virtually identical in structure and function to naturally-occurring fibrinogen, a plasma protein involved in blot clotting.
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