by Plant-based biologics utilize plants as biofactories to produce therapeutic proteins such as antibodies, vaccines, and other complex molecules. Various plant species like tobacco, maize, and spinach have been genetically engineered to act as hosts for the production of biologic drugs. By harnessing the metabolic potential of agricultural crops, plant-based systems offer an economic, scalable and environmentally-friendly means of biomanufacturing.
Advantages of Plant-Based Production Systems
Plants provide several advantages over traditional fermentation and cell culture systems for biologic production. First, plants are very cheap and easy to grow on large acreages of farmland with minimal infrastructure requirements. Cultivation of plant biomanufacturing facilities can leverage existing agricultural infrastructure and expertise around the world. Second, being eukaryotic organisms, plants can perform post-translational modifications like glycosylation which are important for maintaining the efficacy of many therapeutic proteins. Third, since plants do not harbor human pathogens, they present a much lower risk of contamination by toxins or viruses during the manufacturing process.
The large scale and low capital expenditure requirements of Plant-Based Biologics systems allow for significantly reduced production costs compared to mammalian cell culture. Studies have estimated that plant-made products may be manufactured at 1/10th to 1/100th the cost of Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell produced equivalents. Low-cost production is a major advantage, especially for biologics targeting conditions prevalent in low and middle-income countries. It facilitates global access to life-saving treatments that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive. Finally, plant systems provide intrinsic containment as biologically produced materials cannot survive or disseminate in the environment, preventing accidental or intentional release.
Case Studies of Commercialized Plant-Based Biologics
Some of the earliest successes in the field were plant-produced vaccines against diseases like hepatitis B and cholera. In 2006, Medicago became the first company to gain approval for a plant-made influenza vaccine. Currently approved plant-made therapies include:
– Elelyso (Taliglucerase alfa) for Gaucher disease produced in carrot cells by Pfizer’s Protalix Biotherapeutics.
– Ruconest (Conestat alfa) for hereditary angioedema produced in transgenic tobacco plants by Pharming Group NV.
– Strimvelis (GSK2696273) for ADA-SCID (bubble boy disease) produced in tobacco by GlaxoSmithKline and approved in Europe in 2016.
Products in late stages of development include: an anti-influenza monoclonal antibody by Kentucky BioProcessing; an antibody fragment against respiratory syncytial virus by Icon Genetics/Greenovation Biopharma; and an antibody for severe combined immunodeficiency by Anthropic. If approved, these would mark key advances allowing complex therapeutics to be sustainably manufactured using plant biofactories.
Challenges and Future Improvements
While offering sustainability advantages, Plant-Based Biologics also face challenges that require ongoing research and technological improvements. Key issues include developing robust, high-yielding plant hosts and expression platforms as well as optimizing protein folding and post-translational modifications. Plant cells may lack certain humanization capacities, and proteins produced could potentially illicit unwanted immunogenic responses. Achieving consistent product quality through scalable downstream processing from plant biomass also presents challenges.
Future advancements may leverage plant chloroplasts and endoplasmic reticulum for compartmentalized, high-level production. New host plants like lemna minor duckweed and nicotiana benthamiana that grow rapidly in suspension culture also show promise. Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology tools are being developed to fine-tune plant biosynthetic pathways. Continuous cell suspension cultures and bioreactor systems could facilitate large-scale GMP manufacture. Implementation of novel molecular tags, downstream purification techniques as well as human glycan engineering hold potential to boost yields, quality, and safety profiles of plant-made products.
Advancing Plant-Based Production for Global Health Impacts
As technological barriers are systematically addressed, plant-based biomanufacturing systems are positioned to increasingly impact global healthcare. Their scalable, low-cost production capabilities could hugely expand access to lifesaving biologics worldwide – especially in developing economies. With sustainability and yields further optimized, plant biofactories may become the dominant platform for large volume therapies targeting conditions like diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Multi-ton scale production could enable widespread prevention and management of infectious diseases on a population level through vaccines and monoclonal antibodies.
Looking ahead, entire crop species may be redesigned through metabolic engineering as dedicated industrial biomanufacturing platforms. Combined with advances in modular DNA construction and synthetic biology, this could accelerate design-build-test cycles and facilitate on-demand production of new therapies tailored for unmet medical needs. If realized sustainably at massive scales, the global health impacts of such next-generation plant-based biomanufacturing systems could truly be transformative. With continued progress, they may play a pivotal role in strategically combating diseases while reducing humanity’s environmental footprint.
Plant-based biologics as an emerging sustainable technology for large-scale production of complex biotherapeutics. It examined key advantages and success stories, challenges, and future research directions that could maximize their potential to revolutionize global healthcare through low-cost, environmentally friendly biomanufacturing. With multidisciplinary innovations, plant biofactories show promising long-term prospects for expanding access to life-saving medicines worldwide.
*Note:
1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
About Author - Priya Pandey
Priya Pandey is a dynamic and passionate editor with over three years of expertise in content editing and proofreading. Holding a bachelor's degree in biotechnology, Priya has a knack for making the content engaging. Her diverse portfolio includes editing documents across different industries, including food and beverages, information and technology, healthcare, chemical and materials, etc. Priya's meticulous attention to detail and commitment to excellence make her an invaluable asset in the world of content creation and refinement. LinkedIn Profile
