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Protalix makes and sells a plant-based enzyme replacement drug for people with rare genetic disorders, plus a smaller business selling a wound-care gel.
Protalix BioTherapeutics is a small drugmaker with a big idea: it grows medicines in plant cells instead of the usual giant steel vats. Its lead product, Elelyso, is an enzyme replacement therapy for Gaucher disease, a rare inherited condition where fatty substances build up in organs because the body lacks a working enzyme. Patients get regular infusions to replace that enzyme, and the goal is to shrink enlarged spleens and livers and protect bones and blood counts. What makes Elelyso different is how it's made: Protalix engineers carrot cells to produce the enzyme, then harvests and purifies it. That plant-based approach was the company's founding bet and remains its most distinctive feature.
Elelyso is marketed through a partnership with Pfizer, which took commercial rights and handles sales and distribution in major markets, while Protalix collects payments tied to sales and manufacturing. The drug is approved in the US, Israel, Brazil, and other markets. Protalix also sells a second, much smaller product called prGCD-based therapies through its own channels, and it has a wound-care gel called Plantamid that it sells in Israel. Revenue is lumpy — it hinges on how much of the enzyme Pfizer orders, which depends on patient demand and pricing, so quarterly numbers can swing sharply. Gaucher disease is a crowded neighborhood. Protalix competes with Sanofi (which owns Genzyme and sells Cerezyme and Cerdelga) and Takeda (which sells Vpriv). Elelyso's selling point is that it is an infrequent-infusion alternative made through a cheaper, plant-based process, though pricing pressure and competition have kept a lid on growth. The company's plants are in Israel, and it has invested heavily in expanding manufacturing capacity, which matters because scale is where the cost advantage comes from.
Financially, Protalix is tiny and has depended on its partner's order flow and on raising capital to stay afloat. It has periodically needed financing to fund operations and manufacturing expansion, and its profitability swings with shipment timing. The company has also pushed into partnership discussions for its plant-cell platform beyond Gaucher — the real long-term story is whether the technology becomes a licensing engine or stays a one-drug company. For investors, the key questions are simple: how many patients stay on Elelyso, how much Pfizer orders, and whether Protalix can turn its plant-based manufacturing into a broader business rather than a single niche product.
Saved answer · last researched 6 Nov 2026