End‐To‐End Production in Plant Molecular Farming: Integrating Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering

Recombinant biopharmaceuticalBiopharmaceutical proteinsProteins such as enzymes and antibodiesAntibodies have become a major pillar of our healthcareHealthcare systems. However, microbial host cells cannot produce complex biopharmaceuticalsBiopharmaceutical with defined oligomerization or specific glycosylationGlycosylation profiles, and mammalian cells are unsuitable for the production of toxic proteinsProteins. Furthermore, mammalian cell cultures in particular are dependent on expensive, delicate infrastructure that requires specially trained staff to operate effectively. This results in a severe lack of biopharmaceuticalBiopharmaceutical production capacity in the global south, thus limiting access to new medicines. Plant molecular farmingPlant molecular farmingthe production of pharmaceuticalPharmaceutical proteinsProteins and other value-added molecules in plantscan alleviate these issues because the upstream infrastructure is inexpensive and simple to operate. Furthermore, plants can produce complex and/or toxic proteinsProteins for vaccination or cancerCancers therapyTherapy. This chapter summarizes the main benefits of plant-based production systems before describing an end-to-end workflow for the developmentDevelopment, testing and manufacturing of pharmaceuticalPharmaceutical proteinsProteins. We focus on the benefits of plant molecular farmingPlant molecular farming in regions where sophisticated infrastructure is difficult to find. Finally, we discuss the potential impact of plant molecular farmingPlant molecular farming on the availabilityAvailability of medicines if rolled out on a global scale.