Meristem Therapeutics

In 1992, Groupe Limagrain, the world's fourth-largest seed producer, initiated a program to produce recombinant therapeutic proteins from plants. Three years later, Molecular Pharming, as the project was called, produced its first harvest, with the successful expression of human hemoglobin in transgenic tobacco plants. By 1998, the project had progressed far enough for Limagrain (which wanted to focus on its seed producing activities) to spin it off as a fully owned subsidiary, Meristem Therapeutics. The following year, Limagrain freed up Meristem to raise €18.3 million ($16.2 million) in first round funding as an independent biotech.

Transgenic plants are increasingly being used as vehicles to produce recombinant protein-based pharmaceuticals, addressing the growing problem of limited production...