Lundbeck launches drug from DNA-altered goats
* Danish company launches anti-clotting drug ATryn in U.S.
* GTC Biotherapeutics to receive $1 million for inventory
LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - The first drug made using genetically engineered animals has gone on sale in the United States, marketed by the U.S. arm of Lundbeck (LUN.CO), the Danish drugmaker said on Wednesday.
ATryn is an intravenous anti-clotting therapy made using a human protein gathered from female goats specially bred to produce it in their milk.
It was developed and manufactured by GTC Biotherapeutics Inc (GTCB.O), which is due to receive $1 million from Lundbeck for its initial inventory of ATryn.
The medicine aims to prevent excessive blood clots in patients with a disorder known as hereditary antithrombin deficiency, which affects approximately one in 2,000 to one in 5,000 people. It was approved by U.S. regulators in February.
GTC's goats are bred using cells injected with human DNA in a process that it says is a cost effective way to produce human antithrombin, a natural anti-clotting protein. The company has a herd of about 200 goats in Massachusetts.
The U.S. biotech company has previously predicted the drug could generate $40 million to $50 million in annual sales in the United States in its first five years on the market. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Rupert Winchester)
