RP urged to venture into biopharming industry

The Philippines has the potential to become a major player in the $20-million biopharming industry which uses genetically transformed crop plants and livestock animals to produce valuable compounds, especially pharmaceuticals, a leading expert said.

"The Philippines has experts both inside and outside the government who know how to use the technology. Investors should look into the prospects of the new technology like investing in malls and other profitable business," said Dr. Henry Miller, a former director of the US Food and Drugs Administration and who is a an expert in biopharming.

Miller, who is also a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, said biopharming, which took roots 30 years ago, is now big business worldwide. He said that gene-splicing techniques are increasingly being used to program common crop plants such as rice, barley, corn and tobacco to synthesize high-value-added pharmaceuticals. The plants are harvested and the drug is then extracted and purified.

"Biopharming now is at a stage where there are perhaps two dozens companies around the world that have products in clinical trials and many other products that are in pre-clinical development. I think what’s encouraging is that there are a large number of companies, a large number of platforms that host plants producing these pharmaceuticals," he said.

Miller, who is in the country for a series of talks with government officials and experts in the field of biotechnology concerning key scientific, commercial and regulatory issues associated with biopharming, said Filipino investors should grab the opportunity of having experts in the field of biotechnology who intensively conduct research and development for various biotech products.

One such product that has commercial potential is the edible vaccine being developed by Dr. Nina Gloriani Barzaga of the College of Public Health of the University of the Philippines. The edible vaccine in banana and tomato is currently in the pipeline and scientists are seeking a P50 million to P100 million funding to make the edible vaccine available in seven to 10 years.

"I think what is required here aside from the scientific and agronomic expertise, is entrepreneurial drug and financing to move the Philippines along the commercial pathway but that can be provided in cooperation with other nations and with companies in other nations," he said.

Biopharming, while already widespread, especially in the United States, is still meeting resistance from anti-biopharming advocates. Much of the opposition comes from the fact that most corporations hardly disclose the types of chemicals that are being developed.

In the US, corn by far is the most popular biopharm plant, followed by soybeans, tobacco and rice. Since 2002, more than 400 biopharm products are reportedly in the pipeline, and over 300 open-air field trials have already been conducted in unidentified locations across the country.