Protalix Biotherapeutics Inc. (AMEX:PLX) has appointed Israeli Nobel Prize Laureate Prof. Aaron Ciechanover to its science advisory board. Ciechanover won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2004.
Protalix is developing therapies derived from plant-based proteins. The company’s first product is a treatment for Gaucher’s disease developed in carrot cells.
Ciechanover, Prof. Avram Hershko, and Dr. Irwin A. Rose won the Nobel Prize for their discovery of the ubiquitin-mediated proteolytic system. With this model it is now possible to understand at a molecular level how the cell controls a number of central processes by breaking down certain proteins.
In a separate development, Protalix signed a licensing agreement with Yissum Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, to develop a proprietary plant cell-based acetylcholinestrase (AChE) and its molecular variants for the use in several therapeutic and prophylactic indications, including a biodefense program. Under the agreement, Protalix has licensed the technology underlying acetylcholinestrase from Hebrew University and Boyce Thompson.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 8, 2007
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