SemBioSys Genetics
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Biotechnology |
| Headquarters | Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Key people | James Szarko, President and CEO |
| Employees | Approximately 20 |
| Website | www.sembiosys.com |
SemBioSys Genetics Inc. (TSX: SBS) is a development stage agricultural biotechnology company. It utilizes its patented plant seed-based oil body to develop and make proteins and oils in oil seed producing plant species. These proteins and oils are for the nutraceutical, functional food and beverage, and pharmaceutical industries.
The company's strategy is to partner with other companies to enable the commercialization of products. Further, SemBioSys is aiming at global partnerships to develop a variety of health and wellness, and healthy living products ranging from pharmaceuticals, functional foods ingredients, enzymes and industrial oils. In conjunction with its current partners, the company has developed nutritional oils.
In October 2011, SemBioSys signed a collaboration agreement with Tasly Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. of Tianjin, China and its wholly owned subsidiary Tasly U.S.[1]. Tasly is one of China’s largest pharmaceutical companies[citation needed] and is China’s second largest producer of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs)[citation needed]. Upon government approval, a new company called Tasly-SemBioSys Bio-Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. will be incorporated in Tianjin, China. The new company is structured as a Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Venture and seeks to develop and commercialize a variety of products including pharmaceutical, functional foods, and nutraceuticals for China and the world.
In 2007, SemBioSys formed a subsidiary, Botaneco Specialty Ingredients Inc., dedicated to the commercialization of SemBioSys’ oilbody products for cosmetic, personal care and prescription topical dermatology products. Botaneco produces, markets, and sells its products under the brand name Hydresia. In October 2009, Botaneco merged with Quebec Ciy-based Advitech, a health sciences and technology company.
SemBioSys is aiming to use the safflower plant to develop efficient and low cost production of high-value pharmaceutical proteins – biosimilar insulin and Apo AI(Milano).
In a phase I/II clinical trial, SemBioSys demonstrated that its safflower produced insulin (SBS-1000) is bioequivalent to Humulin(R)[citation needed], a commercially available insulin. SBS-1000 is under clinical development and is regulated as a biosimilar in Europe.
A University of Calgary spin-off (1994), SemBioSys is a publicly traded firm. Investors have included Bay City Capital, the Business Development Bank of Canada, Dow AgroSciences (a Canadian subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company), Royal Bank Ventures Inc. (now RBC Capital Partners), the University of Calgary, Ventures West Capital Ltd., and Dr. Maurice Moloney.
