Insulin from Genetically Modified Safflower Plants
Worldwide demand for insulin is forecast to soar by 2010 because more people are developing diabetes and are being diagnosed earlier in their lives.
21/07/06 A Calgary biotech company says it is has developed a method of producing large amounts of human insulin from genetically modified safflower plants.
The Globe and Mail said the innovation could change the economics of the diabetes market.
Worldwide demand for insulin is forecast to soar by 2010 because more people are developing diabetes and are being diagnosed earlier in their lives -- and because of the development of new products such has inhaled insulin, which requires five to 10 times the amount of injected insulin, said Andrew Baum, president and chief executive officer of SemBioSys Genetics Inc.
SemBioSys says it can make more than one kilogram of human insulin per acre of safflower production. That amount could treat 2,500 diabetic patients for one year and meet the world's total projected insulin demand in 2010 with less than 16,000 acres of safflower production, the newspaper said.
Baum said the company's plans to demonstrate by the end of the year that its product works as well as insulin currently on the market to control blood glucose levels, setting the stage for a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval to begin human clinical testing at the end of 2007.
