The 2800 m2 4-floor pilot plant can house up to 9 million silkworms simultaneously, resulting in 80 – 100 g of recombinant proteins such as antibodies. Proteins undeer study are a fibrinogen for Astellas, anti-HIV antibodies, an antibody with high ADCC activity and various antibodies used in the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer. The recombinant proteins are expressed into the cocoon, which after taking out of the pupa is extracted and the protein purified by salt precipitation and neutral detergent, followed by single-use ion exchange column purification. The life cycle of silkworms is 45 days.
IBL news release, April 18, 2016
Immune-Biological Laboratories IBL starts pilot plant for protein production by recombinant silkworms