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Pharmaceuticals

FDA Approves First Plant-Based Drug

by Lisa M. Jarvis
May 7, 2012 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 90, Issue 19

FDA has approved the first drug made in plant cells. Elelyso, an enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of Gaucher’s disease, is produced in genetically engineered carrot cells. The enzyme therapy was developed by Israel’s Protalix BioTherapeutics, which in 2009 licensed the drug to Pfizer for $60 million. Elelyso represents an alternative to the two current treatments for Gaucher’s—Genzyme’s Cerezyme and Shire’s Vpriv—both of which have experienced supply constraints due to manufacturing problems. Pfizer and Protalix say Elelyso will cost 25% less than Cerezyme, which at about $200,000 per year is one of the world’s most expensive drugs.

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