Kimeragen, Inc. announced today that two articles in the current issue of Proceedeings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) report promising results in agricutural applications of chimeraplasty, an enabling technology platform discovered and owned by Kimeragen. Chimeraplasty is a site-specific gene alteration technology which allows repair or replacement of small components of genes, known as bases, by stimulating a naturally occuring DNA repair system in cells.

The results of a study conducted a Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., a corporate collaborator of Mikeragen, showed that chimeraplasty introduced plant resistance to a commonly used herbicide. Pioneer further demonstrated that chimeraplasty-induced changes in plants regenerated from cell cultures were inherited by a second generation of plants. A separate study at The Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research utilized plant cells in culture to demonstrate a similar approach. This team also showed activation of a defective gene following chimeraplasty.

Dr. Peter R. Beetham, a senior scientist at Kimeragen, commented: "The recent studies demonstrate that, without introducing foreign DNA into plant genes, we can create or modify specific traits, which are then inherited in a Mendelian fashion, similar to conventional techniques of plant breeding, but in a more rapid, non-transgenic and specific manner. The development of herbicide resistance and other crop features, such as improved nutritional content or resistance to insects and disease, will be essential fo feed an ever-increasing world population."

"Multiple studies to date have shown that chimeraplasty as a technology for gene alteration could make significant contributions in diverse areas, ranging from plant modification to industrial applications and human therapy," offered Gerald L. Messerschmidt, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Kimeragen. "We are excited by the amount of interest that this technology platform has engendered. However, product development must yet be conducted to commercialize these products. To this end, Kimeragen is committed to the continued exploration of potential applications and further dialog with leading collaborators and research institutions."

Kimeragen continues to pursue diverse research and development collaborations and licensing agreements in the agricultural and industrial products areas as well as genomics and pharmaceuticals. Kimeragen is pursuing approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to initiate a clinical trial for the inherited disease Crigler-Najjar, anticipated by early next year.

In chimeraplasty, an oligonucleotide molecule ("chimeraplast") acts as catalyst, specifically binding to the gene sequence of interest and stimulating the repair system endogenous to the cell. The chimeraplast serves as a template for alteration or repair of the gene sequence, following which the chimeraplast is fully metabolized. No foreign or extra DNA remains in the plant.

Kimeragen, Inc., is a privately held company headquartered in Newtown, PA engaged in the discovery, development and marketing of unique products for human health, plant and animal/veterinary applications. The company is developing chimeraplasty as an enabling technology for three distinct business areas: pharmaceuticals to repair genetic abnormalities implicated in a broad array of human diseases; plants and industrial products to enhance genetic traits in plants; genomic and transgenic animal technologies aimed at developing higher value applications and products for human health and veterinary care. Kimeragen plans to commercialize many of those applications through partnerships with global leaders in these fields.

Company news release
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