Production Systems and Process Development

One of the most difficult challenges in the processing of plant-made pharmaceuticals is the development of suitable technologies for the early steps in downstream processing. The requirements for processing differ from those established in traditional fermentation-based microbial or mammalian cell systems for the production of recombinant therapeutic proteins. Furthermore, the design and engineering experience as well as process know-how are decades behind the established pharmaceutical technologies. Later process stages are product specific and less influenced by the expression platform.

Working group WG2 aims to produce a critical evaluation of all current systems for the cost-effective production of valuable recombinant proteins like pharmaceuticals in plants and plant cells. The aim is to create new and attractive options for moving from the research phase to the clinic and to create market opportunities for companies in the field of molecular farming.