Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology - Asian Productivity ...

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Trends in Korean Animal Biotechnology
Transgenic Goats
Production of Human Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor using Goat b-casein Promoter
(Meddy) (Source of information: 12 May 1999. Korea Herald Newspaper; 2003 Hanmi Company
report. Patents WO0015808, US6635474)
The pharmaceutical company Hanmi has produced the transgenic goat “Meddy” (inh
collaboration with KAIST, KRIBB, and ChungNam National University) which produced
human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (hG-CSF), one of the hematopoietic factors that
control the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into many kinds of blood cells during hematopoiesis
(Ko et al., 2000). It also plays a key role in the stimulation of proliferation and differentiation
for other types of blood cells, in addition to granulocytes and macrophages. This is a
promising drug for many kinds of disorders related to reduction of neutrophil and other blood
cell levels. If the materials derived from the goat’s milk are effective, the price of G-CSF will be
decreased. Humans produce on the average only small amounts of G-CSF, which has made the
protein extremely expensive for white-cell-deficient cancer patients. The cost of producing G-
CSF from genetically altered animals is one-tenth of the cost of obtaining it from mammalian
cells, the method commonly used in advanced countries. The hG-CSF gene was subcloned into
plasmid pGbc behind the 1.7 kb sequence of the goat b-casein promoter and named pGbc-hG-
CSF. The expression cassette of pGbc-hG-CSF was microinjected into fertilized mouse eggs and
goat eggs. One mouse and two transgenic goats named Meddy and Serry were identified by PCR
analysis and Southern blotting. According to Hanmi, the company has established a method of
purifying G-CSF from the milk of transgenic goats and has produced the fourth generation of
Meddy, confirming the stable transfer of the G-CSF gene. Currently, one gram of G-CSF costs
about KRW 900 million, and the global market for the protein is estimated at USD1.4 billion
each year, according to KAIST. The Korean market for the protein is estimated at KRW 15
billion. Each injection of G-CSF (400 micrograms) costs around KRW 260,000. Hanmi is
currently working on large-scale breeding of the transgenic goat and is planning clinical trials
with purified G-CSF in 2005.
CONCLUSION
Transgenic animal research has received firm support from the Korean government since
the late 1990s and will be given a major stimulus in 2005 with the launching of the national
grants program. Although the technology has yet to produce a final product, there have been
several successfully created transgenic farm animals. It is expected that the first successful
product that can undergo clinical trials will be produced within the next few years.
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