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Pfizer stakes a claim in plant cell–made biopharmaceuticals

Nature Biotechnology volume 28, pages 107–108 (2010)Cite this article

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Protalix has already collected $65 million from the deal, which gives New York–based Pfizer worldwide rights to prGCD, excluding Israel, and could earn another $50 million in milestones. Protalix will continue to manufacture the drug, which it produces in carrot cells, pay 40% of all expenses going forward and receive the same percentage of revenues in return. The company's prGCD will compete with Genzyme's Ceredase (alglucerase), a form of the enzyme beta-glucocerebrosidase purified from human placental tissue that is modified to be terminated with mannose, and Cerezyme (imiglucerase), a recombinant human beta-glucocerebrosidase with a His495→Arg substitution and the same sugar modification. Both of Genzyme's products are indicated for the treatment of Gaucher's disease, a rare lysosomal storage disorder resulting from a hereditary deficiency in the glucocerebrosidase enzyme. Gaucher's disease is the most prevalent among the group of lysosomal storage disorders, which have been a historic focus for Genzyme in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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  1. Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Mark Ratner

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Ratner, M. Pfizer stakes a claim in plant cell–made biopharmaceuticals. Nat Biotechnol 28, 107–108 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0210-107

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