Where can i sell venom?
Answers
Answer:
Here are some things to consider. These are important factors you would need in order to have the potential to produce and sell any venom for research or antivenom use. (Note that there may possibly be other markets, such as production of alternative medicines, homeopathic cures, etc., which might purchase venom differently, but these would be essential for selling to the research or antivenom production market.)
-You’ll need to have access to a very large number of specimens of each species of scorpion, because each produces such a tiny amount of venom at each extraction.
-In order to accomplish the previous step, you’ll need to have a specialized facility for breeding and raising the animals, as well as a facility for keeping them where sanitation can be ensured.
-It may very well be important that you can identify the locality your scorpions originated from and provide proof of this to purchasers. Often the composition of venom in such animals varies over their geographic range.
-You will need to have the ability to provide a highly controlled diet, probably to specifications provided to you by the end purchaser, and to verify the composition and amount of food the animals consume.
-You will, of course, have to have a humane, sterile, safe, and efficient means to extract the venom according to accepted scientific protocols and possibly the end user’s specifications.
-You will have to have a laboratory equipped to immediately lyophilize/freeze-dry the venom extracted, as well as the necessary lab equipment to conduct a biochemical assay of the venom produced. This will need to meet the end user’s standards and probably a long string of government regulatory standards.
-You will need space to store the preserved venom with strict labeling control.
-You will have to work hard to develop contacts with biochemical supply companies. These companies, like the multinational giant Sigma Biological are the actual source from which laboratories and researchers will purchase the venom. Universities and pharmaceutical companies will have a strict process for approving vendors, and due to the pressure of peer review of published research as well as the need to demonstrate to FDA the supply chain of materials, they will only deal with a handful of proven, reputable suppliers whose names will be immediately known to their scientific peers across the globe.
-Of course, there will almost certainly be a lengthy and strenuous process for obtaining the required government licenses to operate such a facility, to maintain venomous animals, etc. You will have to locate your operation in an area that is appropriately zoned and where federal, state, and local regulations will allow you to operate legally. In a number of U.S. states, this would be illegal, so location will be important. Licensing is usually maintained by frequent inspection, so of course it’s necessary to keep everything up to par at all times.
Essentially, you would need to start by finding out which biochemical suppliers purchase scorpion venom, which species’ venom they need, and finding out whether the rate they pay is enough to offset the tremendous overhead associated with producing it. Once that hurdle has been overcome, you’ll want to set about the legal and licensing issues first, then research the cost of creating a facility where the venom could be produced appropriately. Financial backing will your next issue, and once that’s accomplished, you would want to actually go through with the construction of a facility in tandem with the necessary regulatory paperwork, licenses, fees, etc.
Due to the considerable cost of establishing such a venture and the potential that it will take a long time to begin being profitable, I would strongly recommend you seek legal counsel to negotiate a long-term contract with the company or companies you expect to sell to. Without this, you could be left without a customer at any moment, and with only a very few potential outlets for the end product, you could be ruined financially after having invested what will probably be a few years of effort to get started as well as a small fortune in startup costs.
Consider carefully, then craft a game plan and move ahead with caution. That’s my best recommendation.