Why Biopharma Should Consider Plant-Based Manufacturing
Plant-based biopharmaceutical manufacturing represents a major growth opportunity. [Jose A. Bernat Bacete/Getty Images]
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As I wrote last month, using plant cells to make biopharmaceuticals is not a new idea. However, while several plant-made biopharmaceuticals, including treatments for diabetes, hepatitis, and an Ebola vaccine, have been approved, the vast majority are still produced in cells culture in bioreactors.
And this means biopharma is missing out according to Randy Maddux, COO of iBio, who cites scalability, the absence of mammalian viruses as well as cost reduction as advantages of a plant-based expression system.
“Cost advantages come in the form of lower CapEx to build the upstream, and lower overall company costs to go from hit to IND, given months are saved as we take manufacturing off of the critical path,” he says. “The speed advantage to manufacturing GMP material will get new medicines to patie