Following successful trials to produce proteins in tobacco plants, Plant Vaccines is preparing for the second phase trials which will investigate production on a commercial scale
These trials will be conducted in Unigro's 400m controlled environment facility in Kent and will use the successful growth parameters established during the trials carried out at East Malling Research .
During the next 18 months all aspects of commercial production from automatic irrigation to harvesting and extraction will be reviewed to establish an accurate cost of production.
The consortium behind Plant Vaccines - East Malling Research, Empharm, and Unigro - will consult with the leading commercial growers in the UK to ascertain the latest developments within the fresh produce industry in order to streamline production.
The importance of this next stage has been highlighted in a DTI Report entitled 'plant-based pharmaceuticals a strategic study relating to UK activity and interests', prepared by Professor M W Fowler, University of Sheffield and I Law, NNFCC York.
In this document reference is made to the importance of trial data to enable an accurate forecast of potential production savings and in particular data to provide a comparison between production in a Unigro GroDome and conventional fermenter production.
It is believed that positive results over the next 18 months will provide the impetus needed to encourage the large players in the pharmaceutical industry to seriously consider this new method of pharmaceutical production.
