Kiryat Shemona, Israel and Munich, Germany
June 22, 2004 

Protalix Biotherapeutics Ltd. (Israel) and Icon Genetics AG (Germany) announced that they have entered into a strategic collaboration aimed at the development of plant cell lines as a general platform system for high-level expression of recombinant proteins.

The 2-year collaborative research program combines Icon’s unique amplification technologies with Protalix innovative expression systems based on plant cell cultures grown in bioreactors. Icon’s technology utilizes regulated release of amplicons from a chromosome of a plant cell. This system provides for the highest possible amplification level of the gene of interest and simultaneous shut-off of the other biosynthetic processes in the cell, thus resulting in the highest theoretically possible yield and relative yield of a recombinant protein in a plant cell.

Protalix will use its technology and infrastructure to assess the capacity of the clones developed by Icon to be scaled up in Protalix unique bioreactor system, thus allowing for highly efficient commercial scale production of the selected biopharmaceuticals.

Dr. David Aviezer, CEO of Protalix, commented on the relationship, "The collaboration with Icon is of great importance to Protalix. The integration of the Icon and Protalix technologies can greatly improve several aspects of biopharmaceutical production and we look forward to a fruitful relationship. Successful completion of this integration will place Protalix in the forefront of protein manufacturing companies as well as prove the value of Icon's achievements in this field. "

Prof. Yuri Gleba, CEO of Icon Genetics, added:" We are truly impressed by the Protalix plant cell cultivation technology and capabilities, and believe that their combination with a high-level expression system such as the one produced by Icon, represents both a viable production platform and an excellent business opportunity. For Icon, this collaboration provides also a possibility to demonstrate the exceptional power of our new expression technologies".


Protalix Biotherapeutics is a privately held company with proprietary plant cell culture technology and innovative and unique bioreactor systems for highly efficient, cost effective, large-scale production of complex human therapeutic proteins for the biopharmaceutical market. Protalix closed, industrial scale system is environmentally safe, utilizing plant cell cultures under controlled and sterile conditions. Production costs are substantially lower than in mammalian cell-based systems as well as transgenic plant-based systems using field-grown plants.

Icon Genetics is an integrated platform technology provider developing proprietary technologies and production hosts with application to a broad range of agricultural and pharmaceutical biotechnology products. ICON's new generation technologies of plant engineering (Transgene Operating Systems®) provide higher expression levels/yield, better expression control and higher biosafety. Corporate offices are headquartered in Munich, Germany and the Company's Research divisions are located in Halle and Freising, Germany.