FAQs

General Questions

What are plant-cell-produced vaccines?

Plant-cell-produced vaccines are a type of plant-made vaccine without the concerns or challenges associated with making vaccines in whole plants or food crops.

Are plant-cell-produced vaccines produced in open field crops?

No. Plant-cell-produced vaccines are generated in plant cell cultures, rather than in whole plants. No seeds are planted, no plants are grown and no pollen is produced. Plant-cell-produced vaccines have the advantages of plant-made systems but without the environmental concerns.

How are vaccines currently produced?

Most vaccines are produced using whole live or modified disease agents, which are then reproduced in eggs or animal cells.

Do plant-cell-produced vaccines work?

Yes. Test animals challenged by disease in accordance with accepted regulatory models have been protected by Dow AgroSciences’ Plant-Cell-Produced subunit vaccines.

Are plant-cell-produced vaccines regulated?

Yes. Vaccines, whether for use with humans or animals, are strictly regulated. Plant-cell-produced vaccines will be regulated by the laws and regulatory bodies of any country in which they are used. This first approval has been received from the USDA's Center for Veterinary Biologics.

When will the first plant-cell-produced vaccine be introduced?

We are actively working on a pipeline of products which are all at different stages. We anticipate commercializing within the decade (four to ten years).

Can plant-cell-produced technology be used to create vaccines for humans?

Yes. While vaccines for human diseases are off in the future, they represent a real possibility for this revolutionary technology.

What are the advantages and benefits of plant-cell-produced vaccines?

Plant-cell-produced vaccines offer greatly improved safety over animal-cell-produced vaccines. They eliminate the risk of animal virus contaminants associated with current production systems. They are uniquely suited to produce non-replicating subunits that cannot revert to virulence and shed to other animals in the same environment. Plant-cell-produced vaccines can be targeted against the specific parts of the disease agent that are required for immunity because only the subunit goes into the vaccine. They are produced in a sealed and sterile environment. They are highly stable and thus provide storage and handling advantages along with consistent performance.

Feature	Advantage	Benefit
Non-replicating sub-units	No shedding or reverting to virulence	Less stress to animal
No components of animal origin	Free of adventitious (extraneous) agents	Bio-secure supply
Bio-contained	Environmentally safe	Sterile production
Highly stable	Easier to store and handle	Consistent performance

About First License

What is the new product license for?

The first product is a plant-cell-produced vaccine for use as an aid in the prevention of Newcastle Disease in poultry.

Do you plan to sell this product? If not why did you seek to have it licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture?

Our objective in getting this approval was to demonstrate that our ConcertTM Plant-Cell-Produced system is capable of producing a vaccine that is safe and effective and to demonstrate that it meets the requirements for approval under the rigorous USDA regulatory system. NDV is well known and understood by the regulatory agency, so it served as an excellent model to prove this new technology. We do not plan to commercialize this product.

When will the first plant-cell-produced vaccine be introduced?

We are actively working on a pipeline of products which are all at different stages. We anticipate commercializing within the decade (four to ten years).

Can plant-cell-produced technology be used to create vaccines for humans?

Yes. While vaccines for human diseases are off in the future, they represent a real possibility for this revolutionary technology.

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