Pharming the Fields

Trastuzumab

PlantForm 

PlantForm is in the development of it's first product, Trastuzumab. Trastuzumab will be a plant made biosimilar version of Roche's breast cancer drug Herceptin®. Unlike Herceptin®, costing patients up to $100,000 per year, PlantForm expects the production cost to be ninety percent lower due to the fact it will be a plant-made pharmaceutical. In a recent test on mice, Trastuzumab proved to be effective in shrinking cancer tumors. Human trials expect to begin in the next year, with the drug available in 2017

Pandemic Flu Vaccine

Medicago

Medicago has created a pandemic flu vaccine using plants as bioreactors instead of the usual egg-based technology. By using plants, the issue of the virus becoming lethal to embryonic eggs is no longer. Also, unlike the previous vaccines, the plant-made vaccine does not need to adapt to the different strains of influenza. Thus, allowing only a fourteen day production of vaccine after the genetic sequence of the target virus is known. Medicago reported positive results from the Phase II Clinical Trials. 

VEN120

Ventria

VEN120 is a plant-made pharmaceutical aimed at Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). One and a half million people in the United states suffer with IBD, half of which also have ulcerative colitis (UC). Current treatments for IBD suppress the immune system or try to alleviate symptoms. Unfortunately, these treatments have severe side effects and are ineffective in twenty-five to thirty-three percent of patients. Ventria's VEN120 is being developed to help balance gut microflora and heal inflammatory damage. VEN120 showed promise in animals with UC. Ventria will continue to clinically develop VEN120 in hopes to aid those suffering.