The study, titled "Production of Complex Human Glycoproteins in Yeast," is one result of a collaboration between researchers at Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering and GlycoFi, Inc., a biotech company located in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Founded in the spring of 2000 by Dartmouth engineering professors Tillman Gerngross and Charles Hutchinson, GlycoFi is advancing technology for the production of humanized proteins using fungal-based expression systems.
"For the first time, we have shown that yeast can be used to produce a complex human glycoprotein," says Professor Gerngross. "This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way therapeutic proteins are made--better, cheaper, faster, safer--and offer a level of control over the quality of the end product that has never existed before."
Proteins for pharmaceuticals must be manufactured by living cells. These cells are genetically engineered to produce (or express) proteins that mimic the ones synthesized by humans. These proteins can then be used to treat diseases ranging from cancer and multiple sclerosis to hemophelia and renal disease.
Current production of these therapeutic proteins, however, is limited by capacity due to rapid growth in the discovery of protein-based therapies--to the point that some approved drugs cannot be produced in adequate amounts, and still others are not making it into commercialization due to cost-prohibitive production methods.
"This development is very ti
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Contact: Sue Knapp or Catha Lamm
sue.knapp@dartmouth.edu
603-646-3661
Dartmouth College
28-Aug-2003