Using goat milk to produce biotherapeutics

A new platform can produce medications more cheaply and sustainably than standard bioreactors

Spotted: Biological medicines, which generally contain active substances and are produced from a biological source like human cells or bacteria, are used to treat a number of widespread chronic conditions, including diabetes and autoimmune disorders.

A biosimilar is a biological medicine that’s similar to an approved biological medicine. They expand the range of medicines available but are very costly to produce, even after the original patents expire. Startup Bio-Sourcing has developed a new process for generating biosimilars more cost-effectively.

Instead of using bioreactors to produce the biosimilars, Bio-Sourcing has developed a platform that leverages the natural ability of goats to produce complex proteins in their milk. Using CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology, the goat’s milk is engineered to express the needed proteins.

The milk containing the biosimilar proteins then undergoes a purification process to obtain pharmaceutical-grade biopharmaceuticals. Five times more cost-effective than traditional approaches, Bio-Sourcing’s method significantly reduces the environmental footprint of production.

The promise of this technology has led to Bio-Sourcing being awarded €2.5 million in grants and €10 million in equity from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator. The company already has several biosimilars planned for production and hopes to scale up to produce blockbuster biologics like trastuzumab (a cancer drug) and golimumab (an immunosuppressant).

The grant funding will enable Bio-Sourcing to bring the first biosimilar developed from the company’s BioMilk platform to clinical trials by 2027. The equity money will support the performance of these trials and help scale up the company’s facilities, including building an industrial milk processing plant.

Written By: Lisa Magloff