Bulk production of the antiviral lectin griffithsin

Fuqua, Joshua L.; Hamorsky, Krystal; Khalsa, Guruatma; Matoba, Nobuyuki; Palmer, Kenneth E.

In Ma et al. (2013) suggested four points to maximize the opportunity of molecular pharming, the first of which was (i) to prioritize drug targets relevant to developing countries. As an HIV microbicide, GRFT meets the criteria of being a drug that is highly relevant to resource-poor countries. The second suggestion put forth was (ii) to develop partnerships in low-and middle-income countries to allow development of local expertise and technology transfer. As GRFT progresses through its current clinical development plan, we will begin exploring potential manufacturing partners in low-or middle-income areas with the heaviest burden of HIV in hopes of establishing 'production in the region, for the region' (Sack et al., 2015) . Following the recent example of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of South Africa (CSIR) and Kentucky Bioprocessing, Inc., collaborative agreements between established processing facilities and emerging facilities can be used to speed up the commercialization process. Engaging potential partners early in the development process prior to final process optimization should allow seamless technology transfer of products that are resource-poor focused. An additional two points were made in Ma et al., 2013 , which were iii) to increase collaboration between regulatory bodies and iv) to promote socially responsible intellectual property management. At this time in the development of GRFT, it is difficult to address these concerns because regulatory bodies have not yet been queried and the intellectual properties rights have already been established, but the overall value of the proposed points in maximizing the significance of plant-made products is evident. However, the success of GRFT as a product and need to produce at bulk scale in developing countries is contingent upon successful bulk