Sangamo BioSciences Inc. granted rights allowing Genentech Inc. to use its zinc finger DNA-binding protein technology to enhance protein production.

Though specific terms were not disclosed, Sangamo will be entitled to an up-front fee, plus an ongoing technology access fee and potential milestone payments relating to the research and use of ZFP nucleases (ZFNs) to generate cell lines engineered with specific characteristics for mammalian cell-based protein production. South San Francisco-based Genentech joins a growing list of companies - such as Pfizer Inc., Novo Nordisk A/S, Amgen Inc. and Medarex Inc. - that have opted to explore the Sangamo's ZFP platform.

"For a number of years now, we've been using [that technology] in a variety of ways," said Elizabeth Wolffe, Sangamo's director of corporate communications, one of which is to enable more efficient and targeted protein production.

Sangamo's ZFP technology involves the engineering of specific DNA sequences to create ZFP transcription factors (ZFP TF), which allows for the control of gene expression. ZFNs, which are sequence-specific, allow for therapeutic gene modification. Investigators can "go in and modify genes, knock genes out or add in genes or gene fragments in a very specific way," Wolffe told BioWorld Today.

Collaborations, like the one with Genentech, allow Sangamo, which uses the ZFP technology to build its internal therapeutic pipeline, the opportunity to leverage that broad platform for other uses. In addition to improving protein production, the ZFP technology landed Sangamo a three-year, potential $52 million deal with Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences LLC, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Co. That agreement, signed in October 2006, relates to the development of products for animal health and for biopharmaceuticals produced in plants. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 6, 2005.)

Those deals have enabled Sangamo to "keep a low burn rate over the years," Wolffe said, "by out-licensing and monetizing other aspects of the technology."

The Richmond, Calif.-based firm, which is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings later today, posted a net loss of $8.9 million for the last three months of 2006. As of Dec. 31, the company had cash totaling $54 million, though it filed a shelf statement last week to periodically raise up to $50 million to fund research and development activities and for other general corporate purposes.

Early this year, Sangamo received an award totaling nearly $1 million from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, to be paid over a two-year period for work on a Parkinson's candidate based on the ZFP technology.

Its lead program, SB-509, an injectable formulation of plasmid DNA designed to activate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), started a second Phase II trial last week in patients with diabetic neuropathy, Wolffe said. An ongoing Phase II study is testing SB-509 in patients with mild to moderate diabetic neuropathy.

The company also is gearing up to begin Phase I testing of an HIV candidate, described as a "zinc finger drug aimed at disrupting CCR5," Wolffe said, as well as another program for treating glioblastoma. According to its most recent guidance, those programs are expected to enter the clinic by the end of this year.

Sangamo likely will seek partnerships to commercialize its ZFP therapeutics, though in some cases, intends to retain certain commercial rights.

Shares of Sangamo (NASDAQ:SGMO) closed at $7.43 Monday, down 23 cents.