Biotech chicken firm TranXenoGen fails to fly

LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) –

TranXenoGen Inc, a biotechnology firm attempting to produce drugs in the eggs of genetically modified chickens, threw in the towel on Wednesday by announcing plans to sell off its main assets. The small company, which is based in the United States but listed in London, said it had failed in attempts to raise fresh funds over the last six months. As a result, TranXenoGen will slash the workforce to just three people, who will try to license or sell its technology. The company's facility in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, will also be put up for sale, and President and CEO George Uveges will quit on July 31. Shares in the business fell 62.5 percent to 2.625 pence in early London trade, valuing it at just 850,000 pounds (USD 1.57 million). Several biotech groups are working on new ways to produce antibodies and other complex protein drugs in milk, eggs or farm crops, as a cheap alternative to making them from cell cultures in stainless steel vats. But the concept has proved hard to commercialise. Scottish biotech firm PPL Therapeutics Plc, which helped clone Dolly the sheep, announced plans last month to go private and return cash to shareholders after failing to get any of its products to market. TranXenoGen said it made a loss for the six months ended June 30 of USD 1.7 million, slightly less than the USD 2.1 million reported a year ago.