Precigen, Inc (formerly Intrexon Corporation,
NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
: PGEN) is an American biotechnology company. Its president and CEO is Helen Sabzevari.
Intrexon was founded in 1998, and is headquartered in
Germantown, Maryland
Germantown is an urbanized census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. With a population of 91,249 as of 2020 U.S. Decennial Census, Germantown is the third most populous place in Maryland, after the city of Baltimore ...
. With a suite of proprietary and complementary technologies, Intrexon applies engineering to biological systems to enable DNA-based control over the function and output of living cells.
History
In 2015, Intrexon purchased
Oxitec
Oxitec is a UK-based, US-owned biotechnology company that develops genetically modified insects
in order to improve public health and food security through insect control. The insects act as biological insecticides. Insects are controlled witho ...
, a maker of genetically sterile insects, for $160 million. In April 2019, Intrexon formed a subsidiary called Precigen, with a focus on human gene therapy. Precigen went on to win orphan drug status from the
FDA
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...
for a
CAR-T
In biology, chimeric antigen receptors (CARs)—also known as chimeric immunoreceptors, chimeric T cell receptors or artificial T cell receptors—are receptor proteins that have been engineered to give T cells the new ability to target a specific ...
based therapy (investigational drug name PRGN-3006) to treat
acute myeloid leukemia
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with normal blood cell production. Symptoms may includ ...
.
In early 2020, Intrexon adopted the name of its subsidiary, Precigen, and narrowed its focus to human gene editing.
With the change in name the CEO of subsidiary Precigen, Helen Sabzevari, took over leadership of the company from
Randal J. Kirk.
See also
*
Amyris
''Amyris'' is a genus of flowering plants in the citrus family, Rutaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek language, Greek word αμ ('), which means "intensely scented" and refers to the strong odor of the resin. Members of the genus ...
*
Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo Bioworks is an American biotech company founded in 2008 by five scientists from MIT, headed by Jason Kelly. The company specializes in using genetic engineering to produce bacteria with industrial applications. Ginkgo Bioworks is an analyt ...
*
Zymergen
Zymergen is an American biotechnology company based in Emeryville, California. The company applies genomics and machine learning to research and design chemical producing genetically modified organisms. Shortly after going public in 2021, it was ...
References
External links
{{Official, https://precigen.com/
American companies established in 1998
Biotechnology companies of the United States
Companies based in Maryland