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	special feature Pharm and Industrial Crops: The Next Wave of Agricultural Biotechnology

ARE ANY PHARM OR INDUSTRIAL CROP PRODUCTS CURRENTLY ON THE MARKET IN THE UNITED STATES? There are no pharm (pharmaceutical or biologic) products on the market, although several are nearing the end of the development pipeline. At least two research chemicals and one industrial chemical have been marketed and others are expected soon.            off-site  About avidin Avidin, isolated from transgenic corn and used as a research chemical, was one of the first recombinant proteins from a pharm or industrial crop commercialized. (See related link.) It has been available from the Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Company since 1997. Corn-produced beta-glucuronidase, an enzyme used in research laboratories, was also commercialized in 1997. Laurate canola, engineered to produce high-laurate oil useful in soaps, cosmetics, and other products, was approved for use in 1995 but has not been a commercial success. The company producing trypsin in corn plants expects to have limited quantities of this protein, used for industrial, drug, and research purposes, commercially available "in late 2002 with scale up to meet market demand in 2003." Several vaccines produced in various pharm plants are currently undergoing pre-market testing. Some are in preclinical trials, many are in early clinical tests, and at least one--the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma therapeutic cancer vaccine--is slated for late clinical trials by mid-2002. Regulatory approval for some of these plant-derived medical products is expected by 2004. In Canada, the anticoagulant, hirudin, was briefly grown commercially in transgenic oilseed rape plants. (The company ceased production because of the potential for contaminating oilseed rape used for food and feed.) next section back to the first page