Living Cell buoyed by diabetes trials

Auckland-based biotechnology company Living Cell Technologies is to open a $2.5 million high-tech pig breeding facility for up to 50 animals in Invercargill next month.

The company said it was making "stunning" progress with human trials of its diabetes treatment, The New Zealand Herald reported today.

The company was also working on a treatment for Parkinson's disease and there were about 2500 disorders that could be treated with animal cell therapy, Living Cell Technologies founding director David Collinson said.

The company needed to build 80 pig facilities during the next few years to meet the market demand, which would be enough to treat 30,000 to 40,000 people a year.

Living Cell Technologies in October was granted permission, subject to a review, by the former Labour-led government to restart human trials on pig cell transplants halted in New Zealand in 1997.

Mr Collinson said the review of safety issues had been signed off but the company was waiting for a decision from Health Minister Tony Ryall.

The company expected to spend about $2.5 billion during the next 10 years, with funding sources including pharmaceutical companies, institutional investors, Government and income.

Mr Ryall said the Government was following a legal process which had been agreed by the previous government and the company.