Medicago recently signed a collaboration agreement with Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation (MCHC) to develop a next-generation technology for plant production.
The collaboration will test the ability of MCHC’s closed cultivation Plant Factory System to produce Nicotiana Benthamiana plants, a close relative of tobacco, for protein production using Medicago’s technologies.
“Our goal is to develop a highly effective, closed plant production system with our partner, Mitsubishi,” said Andy Sheldon, president and CEO of Medicago. “This system would be designed to enhance our capacity and further decrease operating costs, whilst facilitating new applications of Medicago’s technology. We are pleased to build upon our existing strategic relationship with Mitsubishi and look forward to continuing to strengthen the synergies between our two companies.”
MCHC has developed what it calls its Plant Factory System, which uses a closed hydroponic system to grow plants. The use of hydroponics involves growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water without using soil. This method, which allows crops to be grown in warehouses and other indoor facilities, is currently used for industrial-scale vegetable production in Japan and other countries.
MCHC’s Plant Factory System also uses solar panels and LED lighting to achieve efficient, clean, safe and environmentally friendly plant production while eliminating any adverse effects caused by poor weather conditions. The stability of this system provides heavily regulated conditions and reproducibility, both key elements of ensuring reliable biopharmaceutical production in different geographies and climates.
Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Medicago and MCHC will work together exclusively for one year to evaluate the potential of combining MCHC’s Plant Factory System with Medicago’s plant protein production technologies. The project, which involves several steps, could ultimately involve testing of the MCHC Plant Factory System at Medicago’s Durham facility.
“We are pleased to intensify our collaboration with Medicago to further combine our strengths,” said Dr. Seiichi Kiso, executive officer, head of the Healthcare Solutions Office of MCHC. “Medicago and Mitsubishi have both developed very promising technologies and we see a significant opportunity from joining the two technologies into a next generation plant protein production platform.”
About Medicago
Medicago, based in Quebec City, Quebec, has its American headquarters in Durham. The company develops highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and VLPs.
VLPs, while similar to actual viruses, are non-infectious due to the fact that they do not contain any viral genetic material. Because of this, they are a safer alternative for the development of vaccines. VLPs could yield stronger and longer-lasting protection against influenza than traditional vaccines. Medicago is currently one of only two companies to have run clinical trials on VLP flu vaccines.
Medicago’s transient expression system for developing VLP vaccines speeds up the process of producing large-scale vaccines, which would allow vaccination of the population before the first wave of a pandemic, and supply large volumes of vaccine antigens to the world market. Medicago also intends to expand development into other areas, such as biodefense products.
(C) NC Biotech Center
