The cloned animals, which are still calves, are expected to begin producing 'insulin infused’ milk on reaching adulthood.
Bio Sidus, the company spearheading the project, intends to launch a pharmaceutical dairy where this new breed of cows can be accommodated in future. The objective is to produce adequate amount of human insulin at a cost that’s lower than the currently available insulin.
"This model of a genetically modified cow allows us to produce large quantities of products at very low cost," said Marcelo Criscuolo, managing director, in a statement that Reuters published on April 17, 2007.
For producing pharmaceutical products such as insulin from the cow’s milk, human gene of interest is inserted in to an embryo prior to placing it into a surrogate mother cow. A gene for insulin was used in this case. After obtaining milk from the cloned cows, it’ll be distilled and refined in order to extract insulin. Human proteins have been produced in cows and goats using similar techniques in the past as well.
Scientists are optimistic of the insulin produced in cows’ milk to hit the market in a couple of years from now.
There’re approximately 200 million people suffering from diabetes across the globe. According to Argentine scientists only 25 insulin producing cows would suffice to meet the insulin demand of nearly 1.5 million diabetics in Argentina.
RNCOS report “New Developments in Insulin Delivery System (2006)” notifies, “Current ambiance in insulin market comprises of strong marketing combined with clinical advocacy supporting newer products. There has been a lot of research and development done over the past 75 years for exploring alternative routes for universal administration of insulin, however none of the systems so far fully imitate insulin secretion’s physiology. The market for insulin delivery should be US$ 2 Billion year on year. Growth should continue at the same rate or more at least by 2020, when sales of insulin are estimated to surpass US$ 7.5 Billion.”
Key issues and facts analyzed in this report include: evaluation of current market trends, scope of the major insulin delivery systems all over the world, analysis of various challenges and opportunities before the industry, etc.
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