by Douglas A. Austen, John Fulghum, Fan Lu, Richard Petrillo, and Stephen P. Chambers, PhD
Volume 3, Issue 1 (January/February 2004)
At the onset of modern-day biotechnology, products typically fell into two distinct categories, the traditional high volume, low value products (e.g. beer and industrial enzymes) that had come to characterize the biotechnology industry, and low volume, high cost products. Recombinant proteins, the result of technological advances in molecular biology, have come to typify these latter products. Recombinant protein therapeutics have been hugely successful, potentially outstripping production capacity and continue to drive much of the biotechnology. Meanwhile, many recombinant proteins, those characterized as research tools and reagents, are governed by a price-volume relationship typical of industrial enzymes. In a competitive environment, they are fast becoming commodities — price sensitive, packaged as kits, coupled to instrumentation, and relying on heavy marketing and brand recognition. Ominously, the advantage protein therapeutics have enjoyed with patent protection and regulatory constraints on production is being threatened as patents expire and competition from generics increases…
Citation:
Austen DA, Fulghum J, Lu F, Petrillo R, Chambers SP. Development of a High-Throughput Protein Expression Strategy. BioProcess J, 2004; 3(1): 41-47.