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| March 2009 |
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Winner of SA's first Bio Plan competition plans to tackle rabies
A proposed new start-up venture, GreenPharm™, that intends producing cost-effective anti-rabies prophylaxis in plants, specifically tobacco leaves, was named the inaugural winner of the SA Bio Business Plan Competition, walking away with prize money of R100 000 and an investment indication of up to R15 million. And coming hot on the heels of this announcement is the start of the second SA Bio Business Plan Competition this month. Dr Rache Chikwamba's GreenPharm™ technology stems from research conducted at CSIR Biosciences and an innovation on a rabies virus neutralising antibody produced in plants. The business plan proposed a technology that will use plants to generate proteins used in preventative post-exposure rabies treatment and other complex therapeutic proteins such as HIV antibodies at a competitive price. This research began in 2003 when the plant biotechnology research group entered into the molecular farming arena and, with funding from the South African Department of Science and Technology, joined the international Pharmaplanta project. The knowledge gained during the five-year life span of the project is being extended to other areas. Dr Rachel Chikwamba, the principal investigator, said the prize money, including the initial R100 000 that has already been awarded, would be channelled towards the production of clinical batches of anti-rabies antibody, which would be packaged as a post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) Rabivir™ - a plant-based alternative to the existing one made in human or equine blood plasma. "With the prize money we will develop a process to extract rabies antibody from tobacco leaves under good manufacturing production compliant (cGMP) conditions. cGMP conditions are essential for the production of antibody that will go into early phase of safety testing. Thus the money will be invested into modification of existing cGMP plant material processing infrastructure and into human capacity building in cGMP antibody production. While the primary output will be the clinical grade anti-rabies antibody, another major output of the same investment is a platform for production of other highly valuable antibodies used as therapies for HIV, cancer and other autoimmune diseases," she said. Rabies is a viral disease that affects mammals and is often transmitted through the bite of rabid animals, most often dogs. If not prevented through PEP, it has a 100% fatality through inflammation of the brain. Worldwide, the disease kills more than 50 000 people, mainly in Africa and Asia. Rabies is endemic in South Africa, although only a few cases are reported annually. - CSIR More information: CSIR: www.csir.ac.za Innovation Fund
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