Bio-tech cows to milk protein

SCIENTISTS WORKING for Pharming, the Dutch biotech company that bought the rights to Dolly the sheep, are to start the production of a prescription drug from cows’ milk.

The cows – 55 of them – are the grand-daughters of Herman, the world’s first genetically engineered farm animal born in 1990 at the University of Leiden in Holland.

According to TheTimes, the cows are genetically engineered to produce a drug that will aid sufferers of a rare but incurable disease called Hereditary Angioedema which causes swelling of the throat, face and internal organs.

The condition, which affects about one in 30,000 and can prove fatal, arises from a deficiency in a key protein called C1 inhibitor.

Each cow is capable of producing 10,000 litres of milk a year – enough to make 30 to 70 kg of protein.

The introduction of the medicine, which will sell for about €4000 (£2753) a dose, could, according to analysts, generate peak annual sales of €300-500m (£206 – £344m) a year generating the first profits in the 17 year history of the company.