Sangamo announces collaboration with Pfizer
pharmaceutical production as well as the creation of new production
cell lines is the subject of collaboration between Pfizer and
Sangamo BioSciences.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sangamo will provide its proprietary zinc finger DNA binding protein (ZFP) technology for Pfizer for use in mammalian cell-based protein pharmaceutical production with funding research provided by Pfizer.
In addition, Sangamo will generate new cell lines and vector systems for protein production as well as novel technology for rapid and robust creation of new production cell lines. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
ZFP's are a class of naturally occurring transcription factors in organisms from yeast to humans. Transcription factors, which are found in the nucleus of every cell, bind to DNA to regulate gene expression. Zinc finger DNA-binding proteins are amenable to engineering and precise targeting to a particular gene or genes of interest.
The ZFP TF technology platform has several technical advantages compared with other technologies. ZFPs can be designed to recognize unique DNA sequences within a large complex genome. They can themselves be regulated, allowing conditional and reversible regulation of a gene.
ZFP TFs can also be used to regulate an endogenous cellular gene rather than a transgene and thus provide a workaround solution for genes whose cDNAs are patented.
Edward Lanphier, Sangamo's chief executive officer commented: "ZFP transcription factors are used to regulate genes expressing protein pharmaceuticals."
"We are also engineering zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) to facilitate the generation of production cell lines with altered traits."
By engineering ZFPs that recognize a specific DNA sequence, ZFP transcription factors (ZFP TFs) can be created that can control gene expression and cell function. In developing sequence-specific ZFP-Nucleases (ZFNs) for therapeutic gene modification as a treatment, a possible cure for a variety of monogenic diseases such as sickle cell anaemia and for infectious diseases such as HIV can be possible.
Industry experts believe that the introduction of new protein pharmaceuticals and growth in demand for current protein pharmaceuticals could lead to a significant shortfall in capacity over the next five years.
Protein pharmaceuticals manufactured with genetically modified cells accounted for more than $13.3 billion (€10 billion) in annual worldwide sales in 2001. Of this total, monoclonal antibodies accounted for approximately $2.6 billion.
