Big DNA develops vaccine against Chlamydia in collaboration in China
21 October
2008
Edinburgh biotech
firm BigDNA has set up a collaboration with the China Agricultural
University in Beijing to develop a vaccine against the Chlamydia
bacteria, which can cause infertility and miscarriage in women.
Dr. Jason Clark (36), Principal Research Scientist at the Roslin-based biotech company is travelling to China this week, where he will visit a vaccine production facility and deliver a presentation on BigDNA's patented bacteriophage vaccine delivery platform technology at the University. This technology allows new vaccines to be developed much faster and more cost effectively than traditional means against a range of infections including hepatitis B and bird flu.
The trip follows a recent visit to Hong Kong by the chief executive of BigDNA, Dr John March, where he attended the Scottish Enterprise Asia Pacific Regional Global Scot Conference, aimed at developing commercial interactions between Asian and Scottish based organisations. Scottish Development International is taking an active role in facilitating Dr Clark's trip to Beijing, during which time he will be a guest of the National Natural Science Foundation.
Dr. Clark says: 'We are developing our novel vaccination technology in conjunction with our Chinese collaborators, initially for animal species but ultimately for use against human infections. Chlamydia is a major problem on pig farms in China and the Chinese are keen to collaborate with us, using our unique technology to develop the vaccines to improve animal welfare. Our technology speeds up the process of producing the vaccines, reduces the costs of production, and importantly allows vaccines in all species to potentially be delivered without the use of needles.'
Jason was born and educated in Edinburgh and is a founder of Big DNA alongside John March.
ENDS
This information from Carol Anderson, The Business tel 0131 718 6022
E-mail: contact@bigdna.co.uk
