FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2006--GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc. (“GTC”, Nasdaq: GTCB) reported today that the European Commission has granted market authorization to ATryn(R), GTC’s recombinant form of human antithrombin, for the prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism in surgery of patients with congenital antithrombin deficiency. Antithrombin is a naturally occurring plasma protein that has both anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties. GTC produces ATryn(R) in the milk of goats that have a transgene for human antithrombin. ATryn(R) is the first transgenically produced protein to be approved for human therapeutic use anywhere in the world. ATryn(R) is also the first recombinant antithrombin product approved anywhere in the world and the first antithrombin product, whether recombinant or derived from the human blood supply, that has been approved through the centralized EMEA procedure for use in all 25 countries of the European Union.
