12/24/02
By SHARON MORGAN
The controlled environment of a greenhouse soon could produce a crucial source of protection against the threat of bioterrorism, and, according to Dr. Barry Marrs, there is a unique opportunity for Delaware growers, in particular, to be at the forefront.
Marrs is executive director of Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology in Newark, Del. The company, which has been in operation since July 2001, is a contract research organization which is developing the technology to use plants as a host to produce protein pharmaceuticals and vaccines.
“Most of our effort has gone into developing the technology to produce vaccines, especially those against bio-weapons such as smallpox and anthrax,” Marrs said.
Fraunhofer USA has an indoor greenhouse at Delaware Technology Park, and also leases an outdoor greenhouse from DuPont at Stine Farm on Elkton Road.
For the most part, Fraunhofer USA uses tobacco as a host for vaccine production.
The plant gives optimum results and minimizes concern about environment and safety, Marrs said.
He added that the company continues to explore and take precautions against adverse environmental effects and unintended impacts on human health. Other host plants include soybeans, peppers, and medicago, a forage crop.
On Dec. 13, Marrs addressed about 40 people, including several growers, at the Delaware Department of Agriculture. He spoke about the company’s research and potential opportunities for Delaware producers. The meeting was organized by Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Michael Scuse and Jack Tarburton, who is with the Delaware Economic Development office. In addition to utilizing plants grown in the greenhouse to produce protein pharmaceuticals and vaccines, Marrs also discussed the production of industrial enzymes using field crops.
“We think Delaware growers have a special chance to work with the chemical industry, which already is very strong in this state, as well as with the pharmaceutical industry,” Marrs said.
“A research firm known as the McKinsey group, recently predicted that by 2010, as much as 40 percent of the revenue from the chemical industry worldwide, could come from biotechnology, rather than from traditional chemistry techniques. It is important that farmers be partnered with the users of these materials.”
An advisory committee now is being formed to express growers’ needs and recommendations, Marrs said. The plan is to add people from environmental and public safety groups, as well as from the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.
Marrs said the main question raised by growers at the Dec. 13 meeting was, “Is this going to be profitable for us?”
Before that question can be answered, Marrs said, “we have to have input from the pharmaceutical company and chemical industry representatives.
“A couple of growers showed interest in participating, but producers want assurances that they will share more than the risks up front. They also want to share the profits. I believe we should be able to find a way to set up a model that will allow that to happen.”
Marrs hopes the advisory committee will be established by the end of the first quarter of 2003.
He also envisions the establishment of a committee focusing on safety and economic factors, along with subcommittees looking at how to get started with the production of vaccines, protein pharmaceuticals, and industrial enzymes respectively.
“Another opportunity for Delaware growers is the production of monoclonal antibodies in plants,” Marrs said.
“Monoclonal antibodies are the key elements in theraputic treatments that are under development for diseases ranging from a1zheimer’s to cancer. In 2002, there are 10 monoclonal antibodies successfully on the market in the U.S., but there are roughly 1,200 in the pipeline.
“We would like to get some antibody-producing companies to work with us and with the farmers. It would be a wonderful partnership because, after all, we already have the technology in place — farmers know how to grow the plants, and the pharmaceutical companies know how to purify and sell the product.”
In the case of vaccines, Marrs noted that those currently used against smallpox and anthrax are old-fashioned, and are not as safe as they might be.
“These vaccines are more safely manufactured in plants than in animal tissue cultures because tissue cultures may contain both known and unknown pathogens,” he said, “At Fraunhofer USA, we not only grow vaccines in plants, but have made very active vaccines which, in animal trials, have proved to be both effective and safe.
The Fraunhofer Center may be contacted through its Web site at: www.fraunhofer-cmb.org.