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David Duncan, chief executive of Chlorogen Inc., said a fortuitous turn of
events brought his company a partner that could shave years off the
development of an ovarian cancer drug, August 2006 by Rachel Melcer.

Chlorogen, based in Creve Coeur, has genetically engineered tobacco plants
to grow a therapeutic protein -- and had planned to build a plant in Cape
Girardeau to extract and purify it. But a new company, Kentucky
Bioprocessing LLC, or KBP, was formed in March around a plant-based protein
processing facility in Owensboro, Ky., it bought from bankrupt Large Scale
Biology Corp.

KBP's contract processing capabilities and expertise are a perfect fit for
Chlorogen, Duncan said. With its help, Chlorogen could save a year or two in
product development -- along with $4 million it would have invested in an
$18 million facility at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape
Girardeau.

"It was extremely fortuitous," Duncan said. "Very rarely do you get lucky in
this business, but we (did)."

The success of Chlorogen, a company at the cutting edge of the fledgling
"biopharming" industry that genetically modifies plants to produce useful
proteins, is good for Missouri, say economic development officials.

But Chlorogen's good luck is bad news for Southeast Missouri State, which
had looked forward to being the company's processing base, said Mike Mills,
deputy director of the Department of Economic Development.

The Chlorogen facility would have anchored a research center listed among
projects for funding through Gov. Matt Blunt's Lewis and Clark Discovery
Initiative. The initiative -- which would use proceeds from the sale of
assets of Missouri's student loan authority to fund capital research and
commercialization projects at state universities -- stalled in the
Legislature in March. Blunt's plan to revive it was revealed Saturday.

If Southeast Missouri State goes ahead with construction, Chlorogen might
put its facility to limited use, Duncan said. But his venture capital-backed
startup can't justify investing time and money in a new plant when the KBP
alternative is available.

KBP, a subsidiary of Owensboro Medical Health System, was formed to develop
drugs while contributing to that region's economy. It is part of a Kentucky
focus on finding alternative uses for its large tobacco crop, Duncan said.

"That is a major strategic thrust" that fits well with Chlorogen's business,
he said. "Nothing against Missouri, but Kentucky just had that going for
it."

Chlorogen will remain a Missouri-based company, and continue to use
greenhouses at the University of Missouri's Delta Research Center in
Portageville to grow crops, Duncan said.

But those tobacco plants will be shipped to KBP. If the research
collaboration goes well, KBP will conduct Chlorogen's protein extraction,
purification and development into a marketable drug, he said.

"The hope is that we'd get to that point," Duncan said. Early-stage work
already under way "is where we find out if they've got the capability that
we think they do. We'll put that to the test."

KBP's relationship with Brown Cancer Center in Louisville also could lead
Chlorogen to conduct clinical trials there, augmenting a deal the firm has
with St. Louis University School of Medicine, Duncan said.

Hugh Haydon, chairman of KBP, said his company includes former employees of
Large Scale Biology, biopharming pioneers who developed the processing
plant. He believes it is the only facility and team in the world that has
produced plant-made proteins for commercial sale.

Large Scale Biology couldn't afford the high cost of drug development. KBP
is a contract manufacturer, with no products of its own.

"We've done a lot of different kinds of projects in a lot of different kinds
of plants," Haydon said, but he would not reveal other clients.

With Chlorogen, "we are very excited about the opportunity that the
relationship has," he said. "We appreciate their confidence and we hope that
we can help them to succeed -- because If we do that, we succeed, too."

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