Engineering Plant-Based Solutions

• As seen with Covid-19 - Pandemics need quick response
• Vaccine creation is expensive and time consuming
• Influenza vaccines are designed for the anticipated strain of the flu – about 40% effective
• Current vaccines have a stigma about them – plant-based vaccines can alleviate this perception and increase usage
• Logistics for distribution under current technologies are very challenging 
• Creating production facilities is expensive and has raw material limitations 

• Lettuces are an ideal system for producing bio-reactive products 
• Foreign genes can be precisely and stably integrated into the lettuce genome in a targeted manner by using homologous recombination 
• By modifying the lettuce genome, we can produce large quantities of viral antigens within lettuce leaves needed to produce a vaccine 
• The transgenic lettuce heads could be engineered to produce several different viral proteins (from several viral strains) and the adjuvants needed for robust immune response  

• The advantages to Plant-Based vaccines include:
  • They can be grown quickly and harvested for proteins anywhere
  • They do not require refrigeration
  • Easy to administer – when oral no syringes, nurse or office visit required
  • High Protein Lettuce, bio-generator of vaccine proteins, utilizes body’s own bio-factory (the gut) to create immune response
  • Inexpensive manufacturing cost – utilizes existing equipment and technology
  • Easy and inexpensive to transport across the world
• Plant-based vaccines provide almost real-time vaccination options for influenza and other communicable diseases 
• Plant-based vaccines address an international priority; needing scalable, reliable solutions to current market vaccines
• Global population rise coupled with climate change and resource depletion require new ways to produce food as well as novelties such as plant-based vaccines

Operational advantages over field and standard Controlled Environment Agriculture operations including: 

• Production Density = up to 397 plants per sq. ft., more than 300x the density of a field farm, and CEA Plant factory 
• Water Usage = over 90% more efficient use of H2O than field crops, 60% reduction from CEA factories
• CO2 = Near zero carbon emissions, via Quad Gen Power Generation and carbon sequestration 
• High efficiency LED lighting = 40-50% energy savings over standard greenhouse lighting 
• Certification and food quality = conforming to USDA Organic and SQF Level 3 Accurately 
• Controlled Climate = optimal for productivity and working conditions

• Delivered via multiple delivery methods including injections, nasal sprays, dermal patches and/or oral pills. 
• Shorten the response and production time to months due to the fast growth rate of lettuce. 
• Aim for a universal vaccine that creates antibodies for multiple virus strains.
• Help in global reach to under served populations by transporting the lettuce seeds and not glass vials with preservatives. Stockpiling seeds maybe more effective than glass vials with preservatives.