Plant-based Biologics Market Size Projected to Generate a Revenue of $182.9 Million by 2031

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The Global Plant-Based Biologics Market Size is predicted to be valued at $182.9 million by 2031, surging from $116.1 million in 2021, at a noteworthy CAGR of 4.8%.

Impact Analysis of COVID-19 on the Plant-based Biologics Market

The global healthcare industry faced significant challenges in supplying effective vaccines to the masses during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.  Their production was costly and limited by supply chain disruptions while conventional inactivated or subunit vaccines were widely used. Genetic vaccines, such as mRNA- or adenovirus-based vaccines, were developed as alternatives but were still expensive and required low-temperature storage. However, the plant-based vaccine concept gained attention as a potential solution due to its advantages of low cost, high production volume, and thermostability. In this context, the plant-based biologics market witnessed a significant surge in demand as the world scrambled to find effective solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic. All these factors have positively affected the plant-based biologics market growth during the pandemic.

Global Plant-based Biologics Market Analysis

The use of plant-based biologics as a production platform for recombinant proteins on a wide scale has gained popularity. This is due to the benefits of plant-based biologics, such as their low cost, great scalability, and ability to effectively change eukaryotic proteins. The pharmaceutical industry is now recognizing plants as a possible source of recombinant proteins and investing in the development of plant-based biologics. Plant-based biologics have the potential to transform biologics production by enabling faster and more cost-effective manufacturing techniques, perhaps resulting in more accessible and cheap medicines for patients globally. All these factors are anticipated to boost the plant-based biologics market size.

Plant-based biologics compete with other proven biologic manufacturing technologies, such as mammalian cell culture and microbial fermentation. These production systems have been thoroughly investigated and developed over the years, and they are widely employed in the biopharmaceutical industry. All these factors are anticipated to hinder the plant-based biologics market share.

The discovery of antimicrobial peptides in plants has opened up new opportunities for the plant-based biologics sector. Plants can generate these peptides as a defensive mechanism against phytopathogens, and researchers investigate their potential application as antibiotics. Given the increase in demand for new antibiotics, there is a growth in interest in employing plants as bio factories to produce these antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). This could give a more sustainable and cost-effective alternative to standard antibiotic production methods. As a result, the utilization of plants as a source of AMPs is projected to fuel expansion in the market for plant-based biologics.

Global Plant-based Biologics Market, Segmentation

The global plant-based biologics market is segmented on the basis of product type, source, and region.

Product Type:

The product type segment is further classified into leaf-based, seed-based, fruit-based, and others. Among these, leaf-based sub-segment accounted for a dominant market share in 2021. This sub-segment involves using whole plants or plant cells to produce biologics, with leaves being the most commonly used plant part. This method has several advantages, including high biomass yield, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.

Source:

The source segment is further classified into carrot, tobacco, rice, duckweed, and others; among which, the tobacco sub-segment accounted for a dominant market share in 2021. Tobacco plants have been extensively explored and employed as bioreactors for plant-based biologics due to their benefits such as high biomass output, rapid development, and the capacity to undertake post-translational alterations. Tobacco plants have been genetically modified to produce a wide range of recombinant proteins, including antibodies, enzymes, and vaccines, which have been proven in preclinical trials to be functional and effective. Tobacco as a bioreactor is also cost-effective and scalable, making it the perfect alternative for large-scale biologic synthesis.

Target Disease:

The target disease segment is further classified into gaucher disease, fabry disease, and others; among which, the fabry disease sub-segment accounted for a dominant market share in 2021. Fabry disease is a rare genetic disorder that is currently treated with enzyme replacement therapy (ERT). Traditional ERTs are typically produced using mammalian cell cultures and can be expensive to manufacture. Plant-based biologics are being developed as an alternative to traditional ERTs for the treatment of Fabry disease.

Region:

The plant-based biologics market in the Asia-Pacific region is projected to have a dominant market share during the forecast period. This is due to the increase in need for low-cost biologics, as well as the availability of cost-effective production methods based on plant-based platforms. Countries such as China and India are also emerging as key players in the pharmaceutical sector, with significant investments in plant-based biologics research and development.

Key Players in the Global Plant-based Biologics Market

Some of the leading plant-based biologics market players are

• Leaf Expression Systems
• Zea Biosciences
• Planet Biotechnology Inc
• InVitria
• PlantForm Corporation
• IBIO Inc
• Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc
• Pfizer Inc
• Ventria Bioscience Inc
• Medicago Inc
• Eleva GmbH

For instance, in September 2022, IBIO, Inc., a developer of next-generation biopharmaceuticals and pioneer of the sustainable FastPharming Manufacturing System, announced that it had closed on the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of its partner, RubrYc Therapeutics, Inc. after it had entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement.