Ventria Bioscience
Ventria Bioscience | MGT 493 | Kimberly Stevens |
In the 1980s Dr. Raymond Rodriguez, a molecular biologist on the faculty of the University of California – Davis, and his graduate students embarked on an ambitious research program aimed at improving the productivity of rice. He began to develop techniques to “express” medically useful proteins in rice plants, which could be extracted and purified. This technology later became known as “ExpressTec.
Ventria Bioscience, originally called Applied Phytologics, was founded in 1993 by Dr. Raymond Rodriguez. With an investment from Dr. William Rutter, the founder and board chairman of the firm Chiron, Dr. Rodriguez opened a lab in Sacramento in 1994. Within a few years the company launched research on around fifteen different medical and industrial proteins, and filed dozens of patent applications. They continued to enhance their core technology, which is a proprietary protein/peptide production system designed to create innovative human health products. Their core technology, ExpressTec, uses self-pollinating crops (rice and barley) as the production host for these products, bypassing many of the technological constraints inherent in other protein production methods.
In 2002 Scott Deeter was appointed to Ventria’s board as the new president and CEO. His first task was to narrow down Dr. Rodriguez’s long list of projects to one or two that had the most potential for commercialization. The proteins that were chosen were lactoferrin and lysozyme, which are both found naturally in breast milk. Both of these proteins are said to provide some protection against bacterial gastrointestinal illness. Dr. Rodriguez developed a process for producing these proteins copiously from the grains of genetically modified rice. The company branded its lactoferrin and lysozyme products Lactiva and Lysomin.
In mid – July 2004, Ventria Bioscience began testing its bioengineered rice in small testing plots. The company sought to
In the 1980s Dr. Raymond Rodriguez, a molecular biologist on the faculty of the University of California – Davis, and his graduate students embarked on an ambitious research program aimed at improving the productivity of rice. He began to develop techniques to “express” medically useful proteins in rice plants, which could be extracted and purified. This technology later became known as “ExpressTec.
Ventria Bioscience, originally called Applied Phytologics, was founded in 1993 by Dr. Raymond Rodriguez. With an investment from Dr. William Rutter, the founder and board chairman of the firm Chiron, Dr. Rodriguez opened a lab in Sacramento in 1994. Within a few years the company launched research on around fifteen different medical and industrial proteins, and filed dozens of patent applications. They continued to enhance their core technology, which is a proprietary protein/peptide production system designed to create innovative human health products. Their core technology, ExpressTec, uses self-pollinating crops (rice and barley) as the production host for these products, bypassing many of the technological constraints inherent in other protein production methods.
In 2002 Scott Deeter was appointed to Ventria’s board as the new president and CEO. His first task was to narrow down Dr. Rodriguez’s long list of projects to one or two that had the most potential for commercialization. The proteins that were chosen were lactoferrin and lysozyme, which are both found naturally in breast milk. Both of these proteins are said to provide some protection against bacterial gastrointestinal illness. Dr. Rodriguez developed a process for producing these proteins copiously from the grains of genetically modified rice. The company branded its lactoferrin and lysozyme products Lactiva and Lysomin.
In mid – July 2004, Ventria Bioscience began testing its bioengineered rice in small testing plots. The company sought to