DiAthegen

DiAthegen was a biotechnology company founded in 2001 by John Kopchick and Stephen Kirchner, based in Athens, Ohio. The company focused on developing novel therapeutics and diagnostics for obesity, diabetes, and acromegaly using genomic and proteomic approaches. Its core technology was a plant cell culture platform licensed from Ohio University, designed to add sophisticated glycosylation patterns to transgenic proteins to extend their half-life. In 2006, DiAthegen entered a major licensing agreement with Phyton Biotech to commercialize a long-acting growth hormone receptor antagonist. However, the partnership ended in a legal dispute, with DiAthegen winning an arbitration award in 2013 for breach of contract after the technology was not advanced as agreed.