New old-fashioned drug makers: goats (their milk prevents blood clots)

Los Angeles Times ^ | Jan. 10, 2009 | Karen Kaplan

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The goats being raised on a farm in central Massachusetts are genetically engineered to make a human protein in their milk that prevents dangerous blood clots from forming. The company extracts the protein and turns it into a medicine that fights strokes, pulmonary embolisms and other life-threatening conditions.

GTC has asked the Food and Drug Administration to OK the drug, called ATryn. An expert panel voted overwhelmingly Friday that it is safe and effective, putting it on the verge of becoming the first drug from a genetically engineered animal to be approved in the U.S. The agency is expected to make a final decision in early February.

Many drugs are now synthesized in bioreactors by bacteria or Chinese hamster ovary cells, and they require extensive processing to be suitable for human use. Genetically engineering animals is a more straightforward alternative for producing proteins, which form the basis of all biological drugs.

[FocusNexus]

Fsscinating and promising.