Pharming, a portmanteau of "farming" and "pharmaceutical", refers to the use of genetic engineering to insert genes that code for useful pharmaceuticals into host animals or plants that would otherwise not express those genes, thus creating a genetically modified organism (GMO). Pharming is also known as molecular farming, molecular pharming or biopharming.
A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, they include vaccines, whole blood, blood components, allergenics, somatic cells, gene therapies, tissues, recombinant therapeutic protein, and living medicines used in cell therapy. Biologics can be composed of sugars, proteins, nucleic acids, or complex combinations of these substances, or may be living cells or tissues. They are isolated from living sources—human, animal, plant, fungal, or microbial. They can be used in both human and animal medicine.
Astellas Pharma Inc. is a Japanese multinational pharmaceutical company, formed on 1 April 2005 from the merger of Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.. On February 5, 2020, the company announced management changes effective from April 1, 2020.
Alejandro Zaffaroni was a serial entrepreneur who was responsible for founding several biotechnology companies in Silicon Valley. Products that he was involved in developing include the birth control pill, the nicotine patch, corticosteroids, and the DNA microarray.
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a privately held independent publishing company founded by its president, Mary Ann Liebert, in 1980. The company publishes peer-reviewed academic journals, books, and trade magazines in the areas of biotechnology, biomedical sciences, medical research, and life sciences; clinical medicine, surgery, and nursing; technology and engineering; environmental science; public health and policy; law, regulation, and education.
Devgen is a Belgium-based multinational agricultural biotechnology company. It uses biotechnology and molecular breeding technologies to develop varieties of food crops. Its technology is marketed by outlicensing or selling seeds in India and South-East Asia. Devgen also develops nematicides.
Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine is a subsidiary of Astellas Pharma located in Marlborough, Massachusetts, US, developing stem cell therapies with a focus on diseases that cause blindness. It was formed in 1994 as a company named Advanced Cell Technology, Incorporated (ACT), which was renamed to Ocata Therapeutics in November 2014. In February 2016 Ocata was acquired by Astellas for $379 million USD.
Antibody Solutions is a privately held American contract research organization headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It provides research and discovery services and fit-for-purpose antibodies to biopharmaceutical and diagnostic companies and academic researchers worldwide. The company’s services include monoclonal and polyclonal antibody and antigen development, molecular modeling, antibody sequencing and engineering, bioreactor technology, pharmacokinetic studies, antibody epitope binning, peptide synthesis, immunoassay development, ligand-binding assay analysis, and support for CAR-T research.
Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. is an American biotechnology company based in Pearl River, New York. The company develops therapies that improve neurological function in people with Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and other neurological disorders. Acorda Therapeutics manufactures and markets the drugs Inbrija and Ampyra (dalfampridine) in the United States.
Profound Pharma A/S was a Danish company that develops 2nd generation biopharmaceuticals.
Willem P. C. "Pim" Stemmer was a Dutch scientist and entrepreneur who invented numerous biotechnologies. He was the founder and CEO of Amunix Inc., a company that creates "pharmaceutical proteins with extended dosing frequency". His other prominent inventions include DNA shuffling, now referred to as molecular breeding. He holds more than 97 patents. Stemmer was honored with the Charles Stark Draper Prize in 2011 for the pioneering contributions to directed evolution which won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018. He was elected as member of National Academy of Engineering.
Protalix BioTherapeutics is an Israeli pharmaceutical company that manufactures a plant-based enzyme, taliglucerase alfa, which has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the treatment of Gaucher disease.
Russell J. Howard is an Australian-born executive, entrepreneur and scientist. He was a pioneer in the fields of molecular parasitology, especially malaria, and in leading the commercialisation of one of the most important methods used widely today in molecular biology today called “DNA shuffling" or "Molecular breeding", a form of "Directed evolution".
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an American biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics for genetically defined diseases. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2016, Forbes included the company on its "100 Most Innovative Growth Companies" list.
Seagen Inc. is an American biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing innovative, empowered monoclonal antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. The company, headquartered in Bothell, Washington, is the industry leader in antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs, a technology designed to harness the targeting ability of monoclonal antibodies to deliver cell-killing agents directly to cancer cells. Antibody-drug conjugates are intended to spare non-targeted cells and thus reduce many of the toxic effects of traditional chemotherapy, while potentially enhancing antitumor activity.
Ambit was an American pharmaceutical company focused on development of kinase inhibitor therapeutics to treat a variety of human diseases. As of March 2014, the company was based in San Diego, California, and consisted of a single facility. Ambit made an initial public offering in May 2013 and was listed on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol "AMBI". Ambit was acquired by Daiichi Sankyo in 2014 and is no longer traded on the NASDAQ exchange.
Arcturus Therapeutics is an American RNA medicines biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutics for rare diseases and infectious diseases. Arcturus has developed a novel, potent, and safe RNA therapeutics platform called Lunar, a proprietary lipid-enabled delivery system for nucleic acid medicines including small interfering RNA (siRNA), messenger RNA (mRNA), gene editing RNA, DNA, antisense oligonucleotides (ASO), and microRNA.
Halozyme Therapeutics is an American biotechnology company that develops novel oncology therapies designed to target the tumor microenvironment and licenses a novel drug delivery technology through corporate partnerships.
Intellia Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing biopharmaceuticals using a CRISPR gene editing system invented by Jennifer Doudna and Virginijus Šikšnys. The company has partnerships with Novartis and Regeneron.
Poseida Therapeutics Inc. is an American biotechnology company leveraging proprietary next-generation, non-viral gene engineering technologies to create ground-breaking, life-saving cell and gene therapy for patients with high unmet medical need. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California. In the development of therapies, the company relies on multiple platform technologies: piggyBac a proprietary piggyBac DNA Modification system. piggyBac efficiently delivers extensive genetic cargo into cells, creating solutions far beyond earlier-generation therapies. Cas-CLOVER, high-precision gene editing technology with little-to-no off-target activity. In our initial CAR-T applications, Cas-CLOVER can efficiently make multiple edits and can edit resting T cells.
