Inside AgBiotech

Tobacco: Creating Jobs, Saving Lives

North Carolina was once known for its rich tobacco farms and it still is. The only thing that’s changed is how the tobacco is used.

Canadian pharmaceutical company Medicago is using the plant to create flu vaccines. As if that isn’t revolutionary enough, its method has the capacity to produce 10 million doses per month of influenza vaccines.

Rallying for Action

It is perhaps one of the few technologies that can provide a solution in the case of a pandemic. During the recent H1N1 influenza outbreak, Medicago's technology successfully developed a vaccine candidate in less than a month after identifying the H1N1 strain.

The technology uses tobacco plants to produce virus-like particles (VLP). These particles are extracted from the tobacco leaves, distilled and turned into vaccines. The body's immune system reacts to these harmless particles that act like a flu virus, which builds resistance to the harmful virus.

Choosing North Carolina

Medicago chose Research Triangle Park for its 90,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, which will create up to 85 jobs.