Here's the latest on Ventria Bioscience, the company that wanted to
commercialize drug rice in California this year. Apparently, they've had
enough of us feisty rice farmers, and are now looking to Iowa to grow
drug-barley. As happy as I am to see them leave California, I apologize to
the citizens of Iowa for not making them go away completely.
Regards,
Greg Massa
Biotech firm seeks friendlier fields afar
By Mike Lee -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, June 10, 2004
An embattled Sacramento biotech company is looking for greener pastures in
Iowa as it scales back production of pharmaceutical rice in California.
Ventria Bioscience is planting a tiny test crop of barley in Iowa. It has
been genetically engineered to grow lactoferrin, one of the same drug
compounds the company has been growing in test plots of rice.
The company chose Iowa because barley is not grown commercially there - a
consideration that didn't prevent it from pursuing pharmaceutical rice
production in California.
"That is ... really a bonus," CEO Scott Deeter said of the barley-free
state.
He also cited Iowa's "streamlined and efficient regulatory process" and the
"strong support of a very productive agriculture region" as reasons for
choosing Iowa. The field test is on a plot just five-one-hundredths of an
acre in size, according to a federal database.
In California, Ventria ran into trouble this spring with plans to ramp up
production of rice genetically engineered to produce lactoferrin and another
common human protein, lysozyme. The company wants to use them in products to
treat severe dehydration.
Opposition mostly stemmed from fears about the impact that pharmaceutical
rice could have on the state's $500 million rice industry, especially with
Asian buyers who reject biotech rice.
Those concerns became public earlier this year during a unique California
rice industry review of Ventria's plans. A 2000 state law gives the industry
the right to put conditions on new varieties of rice that could affect the
existing strains.
That monthslong process is not done, but it's unclear whether Ventria even
wants to keep doing business in California, where it's been opposed by rice
growers and organic-farming activists activists.
A federal database of biotech field tests shows that the company had
approval for 93 acres of its "pharma" rice in California in 2003. This year,
it's down to 1 acre and Deeter said he's unsure about next year.
"We are really going through a full evaluation of different locations," said
Deeter.
Like every other state, Iowa lacks the kind of review available to
California rice growers.
"We are kind of staying neutral on this," said Machelle Shaffer, spokeswoman
for the Iowa Department of Agriculture.
Iowa defers to a secretive federal sign-off process for biotech crops that
typically does not involve public comment and shields many company documents
from public view.
Last week, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a scientific
watchdog group in Washington, D.C., released a report critical of federal
regulation of drugs grown in food crops.
"We would need much more of an extensive system in place to ensure that ...
they don't (contaminate) the food supply," said Gregory Jaffe, director of
the center's biotechnology project.
During the past year, there's been a steady rise in the number of "pharma"
field test applications to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency
has promised new efforts to increase public scrutiny of biopharming, which
has been sought by the food industry to reassure antsy consumers.
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About the Writer
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The Bee's Mike Lee can be reached at (916) 321-1102 or mflee@sacbee.com.
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