March 30, 2000 / AgWeb.com / Alan Knight
Exclusive on-site coverage of the BIO 2000 Conference for AgWeb.com, by Top Producer magazine's technology editor.
Corn is Virtually a Free Input, Monsanto Official Tells Biotech Conference
BOSTON -- Trying to wow a room full of competitors, investors and biotech scientists here at the big BIO2000 conference, a Monsanto official said yesterday, "Really, essentially, corn is free." Jeff Craig, vice president for business development for Monsanto subsidiary Integrated Protein Technologies (IPT), made the comment as he sketched out a comparison with the cost of producing therapeutic proteins and monoclonal antibodies in corn -- IPT's chosen drug factory -- versus the udder of goats and cows -- chosen by such competitors as Genzyme Transgenics, Nexia Biotechnolgies and Pharming N.V. "The acreage question becomes mind boggling for a mammalian biotechnologist, but, really, corn is essentially free." Later in his presentation, while discussing the financial model under which IPT operates, Craig affirmed the point: "[The model] assumes some variable costs, i.e. farming, but that is really not a significant factor in the world of biotech. Our feedstocks are inexpensive ... The material provides unprecedented capacity." Craig said that by using corn, rather than now-conventional fermentation technology, "We are looking at a savings of $100 or $500 -- even more -- per gram." Thirty-five monoclonal antibodies are in clinicl trials already, says Craig, with somewhere between 700 and 800 more in the research and development pipeline, worldwide. "There is real pressure in the [pharmaceutical] industry right now to look for increasing capacity for the development of drugs that are in the pipeline," say Craig.
Compared to current drug manufacture techniques, cornfields represent enormous production capacity at low cost. "The largest manufacturing operation right now is about 30,000 liters [of output] per year," he said.
"That would cost about $200 million to build and take three years to come get up and running." In contrast, Craig pointed out, equal production could be had from only 500 acres of corn. However, Craig added, "I don't think cost is driving people to this [corn-based drug prodution.] The more important issues are capacity and safety. But when you start talking at the Board Room level about saving, literally, hundreds of millions of dollars to the bottom line, it is a significant and enabling factor.":
