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Now imagine this instead:

An enzyme therapy grown in lettuce, encapsulated in its
own plant cell matrix, lyophilized into a powder, and
taken orally at home—with no infusion center, no cold-
chain storage, and no immune suppression required.

That’s no longer hypothetical.

This is the model being advanced by researchers and
biotech developers such as Protalix BioTherapeutics,
whose plant-based oral GCase candidate, PRX-112, has
already entered clinical trials for Gaucher disease.

Preclinical Validation: Functional GCase from Plants

In a series of preclinical studies, recombinant human
glucocerebrosidase (GCase) was expressed in plant
chloroplasts—including lettuce and carrot cells—and
delivered orally to animal models. These studies showed
that:

• The enzyme remained biologically active after oral
delivery
• It was protected through gastric digestion by the
plant cell wall
• It reached therapeutically relevant concentrations
in target organs such as the liver and spleen
• It did not provoke systemic immune responses,
even after repeated dosing

[Reference: Shaaltiel et al., Plant Biotechnology
Journal, 2015; PubMed ID: 25828481]

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