LOS ANGELES - The world's first company that bred and sold cloned cats on Wednesday said it would close because the market demand went lower than expectation. 

This undated photo, provided by Genetic Savings and Clone, shows Nicky, a male cat, being held by a woman who wishes to be identified only as 'Julie.' The cat died in 2003 and DNA from the animal was used to clone a kitten, named Little Nicky, by the Sausalito-based company Genetic Savings and Clone. The biotechnology company sent letters to its customers in September 2006, informing them it will close at the end of the year because of little demand for costly cloned cats. The company had recently reduced the price from $50,000 to $32,000.The letters said the Sausalito company was not accepting new orders for clones because it was 'unable to develop the technology to the point that cloning pets is commercially viable.' [AP]

The Genetic Savings and Clone (GSC), a firm based in Sausalito, California, said it was no longer taking orders and referred customers interested in reserving their pets' genetic material to ViaGen, another clone firm based in Austin, Texas.

"GSC is not accepting new orders. If you wish to gene bank a pet, contact ViaGen," another message posted on the company's Website said. The firm acknowledged that it was unable to make the pet cloning technology "commercially viable."

The company was funded by John Sperling, a billionaire and the founder of the University of Phoenix, who donated 3 million US dollars to replicate his beloved mutt in 1997. But instead, it bred world's first cloned cat named "CC" in year 2001.

By now the firm had produced five cloned cats with the latest one born in December, 2004. It also provided a DNA bank for pet lovers to reserve genetic samples of any mammal.

Since the company launched its so-called "world's first commercial cat cloning service" in February, 2004, it had won only two orders. Even after it reduced the price from 50,000 to 32,000 dollars, the company have found no more demand.