Viragen halts OVA System development, streamlines business

Florida, USA-based Viragen has halted its development of the OVA System, its avian transgenic technology being developed for the manufacture of therapeutic proteins. Its chief executive, Charles Rice, said that, although some "truly excellent" science had been accomplished, "the distance between research and commercialization is simply to great, and our resources are better focused on advancing our anticancer therapeutics."

In doing so, the company has notified the Roslin Institute and Oxford BioMedica of its intent to terminate its research and license agreements, respectively.

In light of the cessation of activities relating to avian transgenics, Viragen intends to focus its resources on the marketing and regulatory activities related to Multiferon (multi-subtype human alpha interferon) and preclinical studies planned for two of its anticancer product candidates: VG102, a monoclonal antibody that has the potential to target nearly all solid tumors; and VG106, an in-house developed cytokine that has been shown, in preliminary studies, to prevent proliferation of several difficult-to-treat cancers.