BioHarvest Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:BHST) CEO Ilan Sobel joined Proactive to discuss the company's transition to stage two of its partnership with a pharmaceutical company. This marks a key milestone in the development of plant-derived biological materials for use in approved drugs.
Stage one of the process involved identifying and working with specific plant cells to produce targeted phyto-medicinal compounds. Sobel explained that this work was initially done in solid media using petri dishes.
The transition to stage two involves cultivating these cells in liquid media within small-scale bioreactors, a significant step toward commercial scalability.
Proactive: Welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. Joining me now is Ilan Sobel. He is the CEO of BioHarvest Sciences. Ilan, thanks for joining us. I know you were on a road trip and you've been very busy, so we're glad we got you for a few minutes. Thank you. Good to see you.
Ilan Sobel: Good to see you. And welcome from New York.
Nice. Well, you've got news out talking about something we've discussed before — a deal you signed with a pharma company. Phase one is done, and this announcement is really about phase two. Remind everyone about phase one and what was going on.
Thanks. It's a real major milestone for us as we move from stage one to stage two. Just to remind everybody — stage one is when we have access to the specific plant and focus on identifying the cells that produce critical phyto medicinal compounds. We do the work to get the cells to produce these compounds, creating the required biological material needed for an approved drug.
Okay. So stage two now — is that about scaling up for commercial production?
Stage one is done in petri dishes with solid media. Stage two is when we transfer the cells into liquid media in small-scale bioreactors. This is an important shift. Plant cells, like human cells, have memory. We've developed unique IP over 17 years on how to produce these compounds in both solid and liquid media — initially in small bioreactors.
Then we move to medium-sized bioreactors. Successful completion and optimization of stage two leads to stage three, where we grow the cells in large-scale, industrial bioreactors. Today, we already grow in bioreactors of 1,200 liters and above. That scale is vital for economic efficiency.
And once we complete phase three, under our CDMO contracts, we move to a royalty-based, long-term manufacturing agreement.
What does this say for the company in terms of validating your work? It seems like a strong endorsement.
It's important to look at our North Star. Our mission is about discovering, developing, manufacturing and democratizing life-changing plant compounds that promote health and wellness for millions — while preserving the planet. This transition from stage one to two shows delivery on that mission.
It also proves the power of our botanical synthesis platform. After 17 years of R&D and investment, the platform can now create not just polyphenols or antioxidants, but a wide variety of medicinal plant compounds that are inputs for approved drugs.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style