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Chapter 4: The Rise of Edible

               Biologics


               Introduction: From Factory to Field to Pharmacy


               For decades, biologics have been defined not just by what
               they are—but by how they’re made.
               Stainless steel bioreactors. Cold-chain logistics. Precision-
               filled vials.
               A production model that’s powerful, but also inflexible.
               Costly. Fragile. And, for billions of patients around the
               world, entirely out of reach.

               But a new chapter is emerging—one that doesn’t begin in a
               reactor or end in an infusion center.
               One that begins in plants
               This is the rise of edible biologics: therapeutic proteins
               grown in plants, delivered orally, and designed to act where
               the immune system lives—at the surface, not the
               bloodstream.

               It’s a radical departure from the status quo.
               And it couldn’t be arriving at a better time.

               As immune tolerance falters, costs skyrocket, and
               adherence plummets, the traditional model of biologic drug
               delivery is straining under its own complexity. Edible
               biologics offer an alternative—not just cheaper and
               faster, but smarter:


                   •  Proteins that can be manufactured in weeks, not
                       months
                   •  Drugs that require no cold chain, no injection, no
                       clinic



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