Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Development Process
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4 th Group:
1. Anastia Rahmatannisa
2. Salma Auliya Fatimah
3. Shilmy Irmayanti
4. Zakkiyah Muthmainnah
Discovery of Biopharmaceuticals
The ‘discovery’ of biopharmaceuticals, in most cases, merely relates to the
logical application of our rapidly increasing knowledge of the biochemical basis of
how the body functions. These substances could be accurately described as being the
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provide full sequence information of every protein the organism can produce
• The focus of genome research, therefore, is now shifting towards elucidating the biological function
of these gene products, i.e. shifting towards ‘functional genomics’.
• The assignment of function to the products of sequenced genes can be pursued via various
approaches, including: sequence homology studies; phylogenetic profi ling; Rosetta stone method;
gene neighbourhood method; knockout animal studies; DNA array technology (gene chips);
proteomics approach; structural genomics approach
Pharmacogenetics
• Pharmacogenetics relates to the emerging discipline of correlating specific gene DNA sequence
information (specifi cally sequence variations) to drug response.
• Different people respond differently to any given drug, even if they present with essentially
identical disease symptoms. genetic variation amongst individuals remains the predominant factor
• The most prominent widespread-type variations amongst individuals are known as single
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• Many products of nature (e.g. specifi c antibiotics, microorganisms, proteins, etc.) have been successfully
patented by enrich, purify or modify a product of nature could be an industrially useful .
• The issue of patenting genetic material or transgenic plants/animals remains a contentious one. The debate is
not confi ned to technical and legal argument: ethical and political issues, including public opinion, also impinge
on the decision-making process. The improvisation of biotechnology resolution of legal patenting issues more
difficult.
However, in order actually to be patentable, they must
(a) be isolated/purifi ed from their natural environment and/or be produced via a technical process
(b) they must conform to the general patentability principles regarding novelty, non-obviousness, utility and suffi
ciency of disclosure. The ‘utility’ condition, therefore, in effect prevents patenting of gene/genome sequences
of unknown function.
Thus, it is not possible to patent:
The human body, the cloning of humans, the use of human embryos for commercial purposes, modifying the
genetic complement of an animal if the modifications cause suffering without resultant substantial medical benefits
to the animal/to humans.
Delivery of Biopharmaceuticals
An important issue that must be addressed during the
preclinical phase of the drug development process relates to the route
by which the drug will be delivered/administered.
Parenteral administration is not perceived as a problem in
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dosage regime to employ. Generally, ADME studies are undertaken in two species, usually
rats and dogs, and studies are repeated at various different dosage levels.
Pharmacodynamic studies deal more specifically with how the drug brings
about its characteristic effects. Emphasis in such studies is often placed upon how a drug
interacts with a cell/organ type, the effects and side effects it induces, and observed dose–
response curves.
Bioavailability relates to the proportion of a drug that actually reaches its site of
action after administration.
Bioequivalence studies come into play if any change in product
production/delivery systems was being contemplated. These studies would seek to
identify whether such modifications still yield a product equivalent to the original one in
terms of safety and efficacy. Modifications could include an altered formulation or method
of administration, dosage regimes, etc.
Protein pharmacokinetics
Pharmacokinetic and indeed pharmacodynamic characteristics of therapeutic proteins can be
rendered (even more) complicated by a number of factors, including:
• The presence of serum-binding proteins. Some biopharmaceuticals (including insulin-like growth factor
(IGF), GH and certain cytokines) are notable in that the blood contains proteins that specifically bind them.
Such binding proteins can function naturally as transporters or activators, and binding can affect
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becoming responsive to self-antigens or (b) that inactivate such immune effector cells once they
encounter self-antigens. Therapeutic proteins of human amino acid sequences have the potential to
trigger an immune response because:
• Differences in post-translational modifi cation (PTM) detail.
• Structural alteration of the protein during processing or storage.
• Some modes of administration.
• Dosage levels and duration of treatment.
• Genetic and/or immunological factors.
Tailoring of pharmacokinetic profile
A number of different approaches may be used in order to alter a protein’s
pharmacokinetic profi le. This can be desirable in order to achieve a predefi ned therapeutic goal,
such as generating a faster- or slower-acting product, lengthening a product’s serum half-life or
altering a product’s tissue distribution profile. The approach taken usually relies upon protein
engineering, be it alteration of amino acid sequence, alteration of a native post-translational
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molecule or (in the case of diagnostic applications) effectively tags the target molecules/cells. Therapeutic
enzymes bring about their effect via a catalytic mechanism. The mode of action of many specific
biopharmaceuticals will be outlined in potentially Chapters 8–14; however, it is important to note that the
exact molecular detail underpinning the effects of many such drugs has not been fully characterized.
A significant element of preclinical studies, therefore, centres upon identification of a drug’s
mode of action at a molecular level, in addition to investigating the full range of resultant physiological
effects. Pharmacodynamic studies will invariably include monitoring effects (and the timing of effects) of
the therapeutic protein at different known drug concentrations and drug delivery schedules.
Toxicity Studies
• Toxicity studies are carried out on all putative new drugs, largely via testing in animals, in order to
ascertain whether the product exhibits any short-term or long-term toxicity. Acute toxicity is usually
assessed by administration of a single high dose of the test drug to rodents. Both rats and mice (male
and female) are usually employed. The test material is administered by two means, one of which should
represent the proposed therapeutic method of administration. The animals are then monitored for 7–14
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animals for toxicity tests, and these have mainly centred around animal cell culture systems. A whole range of
animal and human cell types may be cultured, at least transiently, in vitro. Large-scale and fairly rapid screening
can be undertaken by, for example, microculture of the target animal cells in microtitre plates, followed by
addition of the drug and an indicator molecule.
• The indicator molecule serves to assess the state of health of the cultured cells. The dye neutral red is often
used (healthy cells assimilate the dye, dead cells do not). The major drawback to such systems is that they do
not refl ect the complexities of living animals and, hence, may not accurately refl ect likely results of whole-body
toxicity studies. Regulatory authorities are (rightly) slow to allow replacement of animal-based test protocols
until the replacement system is proven to be reliable and is fully validated.
Mutagenicity, carcinogenicity and other tests
• Biopharmaceuticals pose several particular diffi culties, especially in relation to preclinical toxicological
assessment. These diffi culties stem from several factors (some of which have already been mentioned):
1. the species specifi city exhibited by some biopharmaceuticals, e.g. GH and several cytokines, means that the
biological activity they induce in man is not mirrored in test animals;
2. for biopharmaceuticals, greater batch-to-batch variability exists compared with equivalent chemical-based
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products;
3. induction of an immunological response is likely during long-term toxicological studies; lack of appropriate
analytical methodologies in some cases.
• analytical methodologies in some cases.
• In addition, tests for mutagenicity and carcinogenicity are not likely required for most biopharmaceutical
substances. The regulatory guidelines and industrial practices relating to biopharmaceutical preclinical trials
thus remain in an evolutionary mode, and each product is taken on a case-bycase basis.
Clinical Trials
• Clinical trials serve to assess the safety and effi cacy of any potential new therapeutic ‘intervention’ in its
intended target species.
• Clinical trials may be divided into three consecutive phases. During phase I trials, the drug is normally
administered to a small group of healthy volunteers. The aims of these studies are largely to establish:
-the pharmacological properties of the drug in humans
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imposed (e.g. specific age bracket, lack of complicating medical conditions, etc.);
-size of eligible population willing to participate in the trial.
• Whereas a comprehensive phase III trial would normally require at least several
hundred patients, smaller trials would suffi ce if, for example:
-the target disease is very serious/fatal;
-there are no existing acceptable alternative treatments;
-the target disease population is quite small;
-the new drug is clearly effective and exhibits little toxicity
• Choosing the study population is obviously critical to adequate trial design. The
specifi c criteria of patient eligibility should be clearly predefi ned as part of the
primary question the trial strives to answer.
The Role And Remit Of Regulatory Authorities
The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most highly regulated industries known. Governments
in virtually all world regions continue to pass tough laws to ensure that every aspect of pharmaceutical
activity is tightly controlled. All regulations pertaining to the pharmaceutical industry are enforced by
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• Assessing preclinical and clinical trial data generated by a drug and deciding
whether that drug should be made available for general medical use (i.e. if it
should be granted a marketing licence);
• Overseeing the manufacture of safe effective drugs (inspecting and approving
drug manufacturing facilities on the basis of compliance to the principles of
good manufacturing practice as applied to pharmaceuticals);
• Ensuring the safety of the US blood supply.
The Investigational New Drug Application
An investigational new drug is a new chemical-based, biologic or biopharmaceutical
substance for which the FDA has given approval to undergo clinical trials. An IND application
should contain information detailing preclinical findings, method of product manufacture and
proposed protocol for initial clinical trials.
Once received by the FDA, it is studied to ensure that:
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data that prove the potency, purity and safety of the product.
European regulations
A regulation is a strong legal instruction that, once passed, must be implemented
immediately, and without modification, by national governments. A directive is a looser legal
term, and provides an individual member state with 18 months to translate the flavour of that
law into national law. Pharmaceutical law within the EU has been shaped by both directives and
regulations.
National regulatory authorities
There are national regulatory authorities in all European countries. These authorities
are appointed by the government of the country in question and are usually located in the
national Ministry of Health. They serve to apply national and European law with regard to the
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drug development process. In many countries, different arms of the regulatory authorities are
responsible for authorizing and assessing clinical trials, assessing the resultant drug dossier and
deciding on that basis whether or not to grant a (national) marketing authorization/product
licence. They are also often responsible for issuing manufacturing licences to companies. In the
past, a company wishing to gain a marketing licence within Europe usually applied for separate
marketing authorizations on a country-by-country basis. This entailed signifi cant duplication of
effort as:
• the drug dossiers needed to be translated into various European languages;
• national laws often differed and, hence, different expectations/dossier requirements were
associated with different countries;
• the time-scale taken for dossier assessment varied from country to country.
The European Medicines Agency and the new EU drug
approval systems
The European Medicines Agency (EMEA), which is based in London and began
work in January 1995
The EMEA is comprised of:
1. A management board, consisting of representatives of each EU member state and
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