The increasing importance of glycobiology and carbohydrate chemistry in modern biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry is tremendously increasing. The starches of therapeutic recombinant glycoproteins have significant roles in determining their pharmacokinetic properties. Significant biological interactions and biological functions mediated by glycans are also being directed for therapeutic manipulation in vivo. Examples of carbohydrate-based therapeutics in development include inhibitors of microbial pathogens and their toxins, cancer vaccines, and drugs designed to suppress the immune system for treatment of inflammation and transplant rejection.