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And that means Big Pharma’s greatest strength—its
complexity—becomes its liability in the edible biologics
era.

Why They Can’t Just Pivot

Large pharma companies can’t simply “try” edible
biologics like they would a new molecule or indication.
Doing so would require:

● New facilities with different process controls,
microbiological standards, and environmental
parameters.
● New regulatory pathways with few precedents.
● New supply chain logic that favors modular,
localized production.
● New skillsets, spanning plant biology, agtech, and
AI-driven growth optimization.

In other words, they’d need to rebuild their capabilities
from the ground up—and in doing so, risk devaluing the
very systems that have justified their size and structure.

That’s not just hard. It’s existentially threatening.

5. Disruption Isn’t Their Role Anymore

There was a time when pharmaceutical giants led the
frontier of biomedical innovation—pioneering vaccines,
inventing the first statins, sequencing proteins, and taking
bold risks in therapeutic development. They built in-house
R&D institutes, invested in moonshot ideas, and drove
many of the greatest medical advances of the 20th century.

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