by John R. Gasdaska, PhD, David Spencer, PhD, and Lynn Dickey, PhD
Volume 2, Issue 2 (March/April 2003)
More than 130 drug and vaccine approvals for 95 entities over the last 20 years have generated roughly $30 billion in revenue for the biotech industry. The vast majority of this revenue comes from 30 proteins that have manufacturing bottlenecks resulting from the complexities of consistent protein production. The lag times involved in constructing mammalian cell fermentation facilities keeps supply of immensely successful high-volume drugs like Enbrel, Rituxan, and Remicade well below estimated demand. In other cases, the complexities of peptide synthesis threaten the potential of soon-to-be-launched or recently approved drugs like Fuzeon. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has documented more than 371 new biotech drugs in development, supporting the view that demand for many biopharmaceuticals will continue to outstrip supply. That number does not include the multitude of biotech drugs still in research stages…
Citation:
Gasdaska JR, Spencer D, Dickey L. Advantages of Therapeutic Protein Production in the Aquatic Plant Lemna. BioProcess J, 2003; 2(2): 49-56. https://doi.org/10.12665/J22.Gasdaska.