11/22/01 Federal grant plants seed for GM crop production Lisa Dempster Calgary-based SemBioSys Genetics nabs federal loan
Alberta farmers looking to diversify their crops could benefit from a $5.5-million federal investment in Calgary biotech company SemBioSys Genetics Inc., says its company’s president.
Andrew Baum says the repayable loan by Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC) announced last week is an opportunity for farmers to get involved in genetically modified safflower production, or “intensive prescription farming.”
“We think we’ll end up producing a few thousand to a few tens of thousands acres (of safflower) in southern Alberta. Recognizing now that there’s only 3,000 acres being grown, that’s a significant increase,” says Baum.
Spun out of the University of Calgary as a private firm in 1996, SemBioSys genetically engineers safflower plants to produce specialized oilbody proteins for pharmaceutical and personal-care product industries, based on research developed by U of C biotechnology professor Maurice Moloney.
The TPC funding will allow the company to expand its staff to 234 full time jobs, and help accelerate the process of commercializing its products, which include using plants to produce potential treatments for illnesses including rheumatoid arthritis, obesity, hepatitis and multiple sclerosis.
“The future has a lot to do with what is happening here at SemBiosys,” said Senator Dan Hays, who made the funding announcement on behalf of federal Industry Minister Brian Tobin. “Like the pioneers who settled this region, you are opening new frontiers towards a better future.”
The loan repayment is contingent on the level of success the company achieves, with the expectation that products will be commercialized by 2010, noted TPC senior investment analyst Craig Barlow. “TPC shares in the success of the company, and the risk as well,” Barlow said.
Technology Partnerships Canada is an agency of Industry Canada which invests in research, development and innovation to encourage private sector investment. Eligible projects include industrial research, pre-competitive development and studies.
Baum, who is also co-chair of BioAlberta, a non-profit industry association of biotech companies in the province, says studies show more Canadians are becoming open to genetically engineered products and the idea of using plants to produce pharmaceuticals.
“When you step beyond the militant fringe, the average Canadian understands the benefits of this technology to them, the environment and the people of the world,” he said, adding that every stage of the process is rigourously regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Molecular farming will allow drugs to be commercialized that otherwise wouldn’t get to market because of production or cost constraints, he added.
There are about 35 biotech companies in Alberta, employing more than 1,000 people.
