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greenovation Biotech gets a European Patent for the Reconstruction of Human Sugar Structures in Moss

20 Jul 2007 - greenovation Biotech GmbH has received a European patent, offering full protection for the production of improved glycoproteins in moss. By making directed genetic modifications to the cell expression system, scientists of greenovation Biotech GmbH are able to eliminate single genes for glycosyltransferases and to integrate in parallel a human glycosyltransferase into the moss genome. Thanks to the corresponding moss mutant with double-KO, the sugar structure of the produced proteins can be adapted to those of the human beings. This glycoengineering facilitates an effectiveness optimization of the moss based biopharmaceuticals and can lead to an improvement of the patient benefit due to the extension of therapy possibilities.
 
A crucial aspect of the granted patent describes the directed removal of plant specific sugars at the sugar structure of glycoproteins which can minimize the risk of immunogenic reactions.
 
The calculated change of the sugar basic structure, for example, on antibodies additionally facilitates a significantly improved recognition of antibody-labeled cancer cells by the immune system and achieves a more efficient destruction of the tumors by the killer cells of the immune system. In the scientific literature, this effect is known as antibodydependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). Stable production cell lines can be generated on the basis of this patent, which facilitate a cost-efficient GMP-Production of most different biopharmaceuticals with homogenous glycostructures. In this way, biopharmaceuticals with designed sugar structures can be produced in the future, which can be customized in a different way according to the respective therapeutic requirements.