News Release
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Nov. 21, 2011
CONTACTS: Dr. Nathan McKinney, Interim Assistant Director, Arkansas Agricultural Experiment
Station, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
479-575-6951, nmckinne@uark.edu
Mr. Tim Collard, Managing Director, Pacific GeneTech Limited, Hong Kong
(852) 2525 8151, tcollard@netvigator.com
Dr. Billy Hargis, Professor, John K. Skeeles Poultry Health Center,
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
479-466-8678, bhargis@uark.edu
Howell Medders, Agricultural Communication Services,
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
479-575-567, hmedders@uark.edu
Bioscience firm funds commercial development of novel vaccine platform
'Isis' platform invented by University of Arkansas System Division of
Agriculture scientists in John K. Skeeles Poultry Health Laboratory
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas Biosciences International LLC and its
parent company, Pacific GeneTech, announced today that they have entered into
a Sponsored Research Agreement (SRA) with the University of Arkansas System
Division of Agriculture for the expansion of research and development of a novel
vaccine technology platform that was developed by the Division and licensed to
Arkansas Biosciences in 2009.
Under the SRA, Arkansas Biosciences, based in Little Rock, has
committed to fund over $500,000 for research and development of the
technology platform, which it has named “Isis.” The platform was invented by a
research team in the Division’s internationally recognized John K. Skeeles
Poultry Health Laboratory. University of Arkansas Professor Billy Hargis is the
lead scientist on the Isis technology platform project.
The research and development to be undertaken under the SRA is a
continuation of the work partially funded by a grant from the Arkansas Science
and Technology Authority in 2009 under the sponsorship of the Arkansas
Economic Development Commission. Arkansas Biosciences matched the ASTA
grant for commercial development of the technology.
Louis Bowen, Pacific GeneTech’s chairman and a University of Arkansas
alumnus, said, “We have substantially increased our commitment in the
technology developed by Dr. Hargis’ team to further develop novel vaccines and
the Isis technology platform. We also plan to allocate similar investment amounts
for additional commercialization activities including field testing, enhancement of
the company’s intellectual property portfolio, and market development for the
vaccines. This commitment of private sector capital is validation of the worldclass technology that is being produced at the Poultry Health Laboratory.”
“This agreement is another example of the benefits realized by investing in
research,” Governor Mike Beebe said. “While there’s never a guarantee on
where the research will take us, we’ve seen positive results time and again that
have helped create jobs for our state and technologies that improve our lives.”
U of A System Vice President for Agriculture Mark Cochran said,
"Sponsored research is a key element for bridging the gap between laboratory
research and a commercially viable product. We anticipate that Arkansas
Biosciences and Dr. Hargis’s lab can, as a team, accomplish what neither
organization could do alone.”
Hargis said he was “extremely pleased to see this research move toward
commercial development” and noted that “the continued funding from Pacific
GeneTech and Arkansas Biosciences for research and development in our
laboratory is essential for sustaining ongoing development efforts and promoting
improvements in this technology."
To date, the Isis technology platform has been successfully used under research
conditions to induce robust immune responses against both Salmonella and
Campylobacter infections of poultry and to protect against infection by these important
food-borne infectious agents for humans, Hargis said. Similarly, immune responses
against avian influenza and coccidiosis, a parasitic disease of poultry, have been
demonstrated in laboratory research, he said. This opens up the possibility of the
technology platform’s use against these and similar pathogens in other animal species
and in humans, he added.
Hargis said the expanded scope of the work to be performed under the
SRA includes novel vaccine approaches and additional pathogens of animals
and humans. He said Isis uses harmless microorganisms to produce antigens,
the primary components of a vaccine, and Isis vaccines can be orally
administered. This, together with the relative simplicity of microbial fermentation,
has major implications for the cost-effectiveness of Isis vaccines in terms of R&D,
manufacture and application, Hargis said.
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About Arkansas Biosciences and Pacific GeneTech
Arkansas Biosciences International LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific
Genetech Limited, holds an exclusive, global license for vaccine technology from
the University of Arkansas which can be used to combat infectious diseases in
animals and humans. Pacific GeneTech (www.pacificgenetech.com) is a Hong
Kong-based biotechnology company that acquires and develops vaccine
technologies to address the escalating threat of emerging infectious diseases
and other pathogens in both the developed and developing worlds.
News releases and photos are available online at
http://arkansasagnews.uark.edu/392.htm