Plant Produced Medicines, Systems, Therapeudics, Vaccines

SubTerra L.L.C. is a Michigan registered operating company, with office facilities at the White Pine Industrial Park, in White Pine, Michigan. The majority of the company is owned by the acting parent company, Prairie Plant Systems Inc. (PPS), with the balance being owned by private investors in Michigan. The board of directors is comprised of PPS’s directors, as well as directors from several Michigan-based industries.

Company plans will continue to use the existing 2,500 square foot growth chamber in the White Pine Mine to conduct pilot studies for proof of concept to new clientele. Corporate clients and institutional clients will be retained to utilize a portion of one chamber as a pilot, on a fee-for-service basis. The commercial expansion will begin in early 2002, with the first planned expansion encompassing approximately 10,000 square feet. This will be followed by subsequent expansions as the market demand dictates. The feasibility of such a concept has already been demonstrated by Prairie Plant Systems with the opening of an underground growth chamber at Flin Flon, Manitoba in 1991.

Target Market
SubTerra will target companies and institutions involved with biopharmaceutical production. In today’s advancing technology, the new drugs being developed to fight various forms of cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease are complex therapeutic proteins (compounds which can be engineered into plants, thus making the plants become mini manufacturers of these new drugs). The most glaring problem with these new plants has been the lack of a suitable growing environment. This is due, in part, to the issues surrounding crop approval and regulations, crop quality, and bio- and industrial security.

Competitive Advantage
Given the patented, high-value of the drugs grown in the plants and the risks associated with growing them close to the natural environment, a growth chamber within a mine offers the perfect solution. SubTerra’s competitive advantages are many, including:

No insects, birds or other pests exist in the mines, thus preventing the possibility of pollen or seed escape via this route.

Plant disease and/or pathogens normally carried on insects; birds or pests have no opportunity to infect the plants.

Plants have been documented to grow better in the mines than in traditional greenhouses or fields, possibly because of slightly elevated levels of CO2 .

Plants have been documented to have augmented sugars, flavors and active principle compounds, under these growth conditions.

The facility offers excellent reproductive isolation.

The physical containment offered by the growth chamber provides industrial security and a high level of protection of company customer’s intellectual property.

Future Expansion
SubTerra wishes to conduct the expansion of the underground growth chamber in stages. These stages would occur in 10,000-20,000 square feet at a time, dependent on the market needs. Accompanying the initial 3,000 square feet, electrical infrastructure was installed for approximately 120,000 square feet. With this infrastructure in place, SubTerra has the ability to expand without the additional costs to bring power to the underground area.