Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Awards 2019

GHP / 2019 Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Awards 95 , PlantForm Corporation PlantForm Corporation: Best Specialty Protein Drug Biopharmaceutical Company 2019 Rapidly developing and producing specialty antibodies and protein drugs, PlantForm Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company focused onmaking life-saving biologic drugs more affordable and accessible around the world for patients with critical illnesses. Discover why this company, using its proprietary technology platform vivo XPRESS®, is the best in specialty protein drug in 2019’s biopharming industry. A privately-held Canadian biopharmaceutical company, PlantForm is focused on developing and marketing therapeutic drugs, whilst also advancing projects of interest to other parties that use its vivo XPRESS® platform. The plant-based system makes it easier, faster and less expensive to produce approved biologic drugs for novel indications and new markets. Co-founded by Chief Scientific Officer Dr. J. Christopher Hall, PlantForm is developing a wide range of biologic drugs, including monoclonal antibodies and therapeutic proteins. Many of these products are biosimilars, which patients, physicians, and healthcare funding agencies are beginning to accept over established drugs. Through pre-clinical and clinical testing, PlantForm is ensuring its biosimilars demonstrate the highest standards of safety and efficacy. Marketing partners of the firm are aiming to bring these drugs to the world market at significantly reduced cost than both originators and other biosimilar competitors. Using the technology of vivo XPRESS® to genetically engineer tobacco plants to produce biopharmaceuticals in less than six weeks, goods can be produced at a significantly lower cost compared to industry standard fermentation systems. The system has many advantages on top of cost- effectiveness, including rapid development and production timelines, high levels of drug expression, lower risk of unwanted immune reactions, and unlimited scale-up capability. PlantForm has significantly increased production rates from the vivo XPRESS® platform using specialist knowledge of genetics, molecular biology, plant physiology and process engineering. With production rates increased a hundred-fold over five years, the company can now produce biosimilar products at a tenth of the cost that equivalent name brands can. Research and development groups at PlantForm have attracted scientists to lead in-house laboratory studies, and manage a number of collaborations with universities, government institutes and companies to develop and evaluate new technologies. Through a strong scientific advisory committee, the company gains insights on industry direction, and support for collaboration on emerging technologies. Staff are also regular contributors and reviewers of scientific journals, and sit on advisory panels to associations, ensuring that the firm develops and uses the latest cutting-edge technology. Looking to the future, the company is developing its business internationally. Expanding upon an existing partnership in Brazil, PlantForm will also be advancing a new biosimilar program in the region and aim to develop a suite of drugs for the Brazilian and world markets. There is also potential for more international partnership with a leading South African biopharmaceutical company, with the potential for establishing the vivo XPRESS® technology in a manufacturing facility in Africa. AntoXa Corporation, a subsidiary of PlantForm, is also developing specialty drugs to help protect military and civilian personnel from biological and chemical agents. With an exclusive license to the vivo XPRESS® platform, AntoXa is producing defence- related therapeutics and countermeasures against agents such as ricin and sarin. Ultimately, the success of PlantForm is coming from the application of specialist knowledge to create cost-effective, biosimilar drugs at a fraction of the cost. With industries seeking high-value product opportunities from plant-based production systems, this firm intends to pursue and evaluate potential collaboration across the world. Company: PlantForm Corporation Contact: Don Stewart Email: [email protected] Website: https://www.plantformcorp.com/