'Plantibodies' drugs advance as big pharma stands aside

[riky]

'Plantibodies' drugs advance as big pharma stands aside

<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/plantibodies-drugs-advance-big-pharma-stands-aside-213741546--finance.html"><img src="http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/LIab6c6qRmQHL1lcVZ_Ykw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9NzU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2014-08-17T213741Z_1_LYNXMPEA7G0E0_RTROPTP_2_HEALTH-EBOLA-LIBERIA.JPG" width="130" height="86" alt="Health workers wearing protective clothing prepare to carry an abandoned dead body presenting with Ebola symptoms at Duwala market in Monrovia" align="left" title="Health workers wearing protective clothing prepare to carry an abandoned dead body presenting with Ebola symptoms at Duwala market in Monrovia" border="0" /></a>By Deena Beasley LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Biotech drug production techniques based on plants, which may prove to be faster, higher yielding and cheaper than current methods using mammalian cells, haven't caught on with the biggest pharmaceutical companies. The leading players in so-called &quot;plantibodies&quot; include San Diego's Mapp Pharmaceutical, which garnered global attention for an experimental Ebola drug given to two American medical workers, as well as companies like Germany's Icon Genetics, Canada's PlantForm Corp, and Delaware-based IBio Inc. All of the privately-held companies are working to produce antibodies, protein drugs and vaccines in fast-growing plants. Big pharmaceutical makers have yet to embrace the technique after spending hundreds of millions of dollars on their current manufacturing lines. &quot;I think the interest will come,&quot; said Victor Klimyuk, chief operating officer at Icon Genetics.</p><br clear="all"/>

Source: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login