Research Corporation Technologies (RCT) in Tucson, Ariz., is a technology investment and management company that provides early-stage funding and development for promising biomedical companies and technologies. RCT focuses on technology investments with origins from universities and research institutions worldwide.
RCT has played an early role in the commercial success of some of today’s important pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices and biotechnology products. The company’s technology investment and management activities have played a critical role in the commercialization of the blockbuster anticancer drugs cisplatin and carboplatin, the PSA blood test for prostate cancer, technetium-99-based imaging agents, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), nonimmunogenic delivery of protein-based drugs, the fibronectin artificial antibody scaffold, and Vimpat® (lacosamide) for the treatment of seizures in patients with epilepsy.
RCT’s Pichia Expression Platform includes the Pichia Classic Expression System and the Pichia GlycoSwitch® Expression System. Pichia Classic is used for producing non-glycosylated products, or for products in which yeast glycosylation is acceptable. Pichia GlycoSwitch® is used for producing human-like glycosylated products.
Through a partnership with Life Technologies, RCT offers kits that contain the Pichia Classic Expression materials to researchers worldwide. The purchase of a kit from Life Technologies allows the user to evaluate Pichia for up to one year. If the user wishes to continue using Pichia Classic, RCT offers flexible nonexclusive licenses for commercial use and sales, and licenses for commercial research and in-house development. These licenses have various fees and royalty rates tailored to different business plans, such as pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, industrial enzymes, animal health products and reagents. Materials and kits related to the Pichia GlycoSwitch® System are available from RCT’s partner BioGrammatics, who also provides services and technical support. See our Try Pichia and Licensing pages for more information.
Today, Pichia is utilized industry-wide as a proven a host for recombinant protein production for both biopharmaceutical and industrial products. RCT has licensed the Pichia Expression Platform to more than 200 companies in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, animal health and food industries.