BioProtein Technologies, a French contract manufacturing organisation specialising in the production of therapeutic proteins in the milk of transgenic rabbits, has licensed rights to technologies developed by GTC Biotherapeutics of the USA that will improve its intellectual property position.

GTC also has a strong interest in transgenic production methods, and the new agreement will enable BioProtein Technologies to expand its ability to develop proteins in milk, supporting its ambition to become a significant player in the area of recombinant protein manufacturing in rabbits.

Under the terms of the agreement, GTC has granted BioProtein Technologies certain rights to its European patent for the production of recombinant proteins in the milk of transgenic rabbits. These rights are primarily in the European Union, Turkey and Switzerland.

Rabbits offer advantages over other species in terms of scale-up and time-to-market and can produce up to 10-15 litres of milk per year, notes BioProtein. From the annual production of 400 rabbits, up to 5-10kg of protein can be isolated and purified to a very high quality, it claims.