Austin spin-off XenoTrans earns Geron backing

US biotechnology company Geron has taken a 25 per cent equity position in Austin Research Institute spin-off XenoTrans, in return for granting the company a non-exclusive licence to use Geron's nuclear transfer technology to produce transgenic pigs for xenotransplantation, and a share in future revenues.

XenoTrans, started by former Austin director Prof Ian McKenzie, will use the technology to develop pigs modified to produce organs suitable for human transplant. Initially the company plans to introduce a recessive form of alpha 1,3 galactose -- a pig antigen that is responsible for much of the immediate host rejection response.

But ultimately, McKenzie said, the company would like to introduce multiple genes into pigs, to reduce host rejection, and this is where Geron's nuclear transfer technology will be a valuable tool.

"The combination of Geron's nuclear transfer technology and XenoTrans' alpha 1,3 galactose technologies will lead to the earlier production of pig organs suitable for trial in humans," he said.

"This licence represents another important step in XenoTrans' strategy to be a leading company in the field of producing human acceptable organ transplants. XenoTrans now has the technology to rapidly test the multiple genes required to inhibit graft rejection and produce the optimal pig for transplantation."

McKenzie said he expected it would take about five years to get a transgenic pig optimised for transplantation, with three or four versions along the way.

"We are trying to get multi-gene transgenic pigs to do transplants into primates with a minimal or modest level of immunosuppression," he said. "One would need to be convinced that the organs would work."

The initial organ targets for transplantation between pigs and humans are kidneys, pancreatic islets and hearts.

Geron CFO David Greenwood, who will be joining the XenoTrans board of directors, said Geron was pleased its nuclear transfer technology would help enable XenoTrans' product development and commercialisation plans.

McKenzie said he hoped Geron's support would allow XenoTrans to attract more substantial funding in Australia and overseas.