Protein Harvest
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
Genetic engineering is giving a new meaning to the term "manufacturing plant" as the biotechnology industry looks to potatoes, corn, tobacco, and other crops to provide cheap manufacturing sources for therapeutic The lack of capacity for the cost-effective manufacture of protein-based pharmaceuticals will soon cause a significant bottleneck at pharmaceutical companies, one that threatens to impede the progress of therapeutics at all stages of development, from the preclinical stage to commercialization. Today, companies are faced with the limited options of either queuing up for outsourced manufacturing, or investing hundreds of millions of dollars in their own production capacity well before they know that a product will succeed. A bumper crop of new companies is therefore poised to take advantage of the manufacturing capabilities of plants that have been genetically engineered to produce human proteins.
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Protein Production Start-Ups
Should a disruptive protein production technology emerge, the current interest in developing large-molecule therapeutics assures there would be many takers.
Protein Production Start-Ups
Should a disruptive protein production technology emerge, the current interest in developing large-molecule therapeutics assures there would be many takers.
ProdiGene Inc.
ProdiGene Inc. was the first company to commercialize recombinant proteins from transgenic plants. It has used its head start to assemble a strong IP portfolio and form a number of strategic partnerships to advance its programs in proteins for biopharmaceutical and industrial applications. Using corn as its production vehicle, ProdiGene is close to hitting the market with an industrial enzyme, and will embark soon on clinical trials for edible human vaccines for e.coli and hepatitis B.