Date: Apr 24, 2012 Source: (
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Company's IP Awarded First FDA Approval in Plant-Based Production of Therapeutic Proteins
April 24, 2012
On Tuesday, April 24, 2012 BioStrategies LC was
recognized as a "Model of Excellence" among small
US Technology R&D firms by winning a 2012 Tibbetts
Award from the US Small Business Administration
(SBA). At a ceremony held at the White House in
Washington DC, Drs. David Radin and Carole Cramer,
co-founders of the company, were each awarded
trophies by Karen Mills, Director of SBA, signifying this
national recognition. Also present for the awards was
Roland Tibbetts (left in photo), who was instrumental
in establishing the national SBIR program.
The Tibbetts Award highlights twenty years of successful SBIR research led by the entrepreneurial team
of Drs. Radin and Cramer, who have pioneered R&D leading to the introduction of bioengineered plants
for manufacturing human therapeutic proteins. The core innovation highlighted in the award was initiated
during their first SBIR grant from NIH in 1993, which demonstrated that the normal gene for a human
enzyme defective in Gauchers Disease, a rare genetic disorder, could be introduced into plants and
expressed to produce a bioactive human enzyme. This technology, licensed to Protalix, was approved
by FDA on May 1, 2012 and is expected to be marketed world-wide under partnership with Pfizer
Pharmaceuticals. This breakthrough achievement represents the first commercialized plant-made human
therapeutic protein to be marketed in the US and abroad.
Radin and Cramer are serial entrepreneurs having started two previous small biotech companies with
the breakthrough research recognized in the Tibbetts Award being developed at their first company,
CropTech Corp. The SBIR program has been instrumental in the development of these companies and
in driving product and technology innovation in plant-made pharmaceutical, biodefense, and veterinary
products. Throughout their career, they have won SBIR grants from the NIH, DOD, US Army, National
Cancer Institute, and USDA, and a NIST Advanced Technology Program from the Dept. of Commerce.
Dr. Radin serves as Managing Director of BioStrategies; Cramer, a professor at ASU, serves as
BioStrategies' Scientific Director.
Contacts: David Radin, Ph.D.
Managing Director, BioStrategies LC
870-8978-7310; www.biostrategies-lc.com
