Monsanto: Down on the pharm

Citing steep initial R&D costs, long time horizons and no particular development advantage over the competition, Monsanto Co. has closed its therapeutic pharming business to focus on large acre crops. Monsanto's exit leaves a handful of clinical stage companies to grow the field of plant-based pharmaceuticals (PBP).

Facing flat sales growth for the year and an increased net loss, MON decided to exit the PBP business to reduce costs associated with its agricultural chemistry business, spokesperson Lori Fisher told BioCentury. She said continuing the program would "require the company to commit to significant capital expenditures" to advance a protein to the point where a pharmaceutical or biotech company might be interested in a partnership. ...