Summary

The advent of biopharmaceuticals in current medicine brought enormous benefits to the treatment of life-threatening human diseases (e.g., cancer, diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders), and improved the well-being of many people worldwide. The global portfolio of these therapeutic products include proteins and antibodies, nucleic acids, and cell-based products, and continues to expand at a rapid pace - approvals in the period 2015-2018 essentially double the typical five-yearly historical approval pace (G. Walsh, Nat. Biotechnol., 36:1136-1145, 2018) -, representing a significant share of the entire market of pharmaceuticals.

Innovation in the (bio)pharmaceutical industry has been driven towards the development of cost-effective manufacturing processes, envisaging the delivery of products in high quantity, with superior quality (purity), and high specificity, with the ultimate goal of benefiting patients. Progress in this direction have resulted from the application of novel technologies in the upstream stage (high-throughput, single-use devices, statistical optimization of media and fermentation conditions, QbD, and continuous processing), while at the downstream level, chromatography has evolved through the development of new resins and ligands, coupled with advances in process modelling, operating and control strategies.

An emerging trend is the application of alternative solvents such as ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents, in which their structure and physicochemical properties can be tuned to address unmet needs in (bio)pharmaceutical research. These compounds may be derived from natural and reneawable sources and hold great promise in the development of efficient, sustainable and cost-effective biopharmaceuticals purification processes.

This Entry Collection aims to provide the latest progresses achieved in pharmaceuticals bioprocessing. We welcome submissions of original research, comprehensive reviews and perspectives, including, but not limited, to the following fields:

- Upstream processing (genetic engineering, systems biology, difficult-to-express proteins, expression conditions, Quality by Design approaches, process analytical technologies);

- Chromatographic purification methods (process modelling and control, continuous bioprocessing, design and characterization of resins and ligands, new formats);

- Alternative purification methods (aqueous biphasic systems, filtration, crystallization, precipitation);

- Application of neoteric solvents in upstream and downstream stages;

- Analytical characterization of biopharmaceuticals (stability, post-translational modifications, biological activity, immunogenicity); 

Expand All
Entries
Topic Review
Natural Antibacterial Additives in Bioactive Wound Dressings
Wound care is a global health issue with a financial burden of up to US $96.8 billion annually in the USA alone. Chronic non-healing wounds which show delayed and incomplete healing are especially problematic. Natural products and their derivatives have long been a significant source of pharmaceuticals against AMR. Scrutinising the data of newly approved drugs has identified plants as one of the biggest and most important sources in the development of novel antibacterial drugs.
  • 1.4K
  • 10 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Biogenic Silver Nanoparticles for Their Biomedical Applications
Nanoparticles can be synthesized through physical, chemical, and biological routes, where biologically synthesized nanoparticles are also referred to as biogenic-synthesized nanoparticles or bionanoparticles. Bionanoparticles exploit the inherent reducing property of biological entities to develop cost-effective, non-toxic, time-efficient, sustainable, and stable nanosized particles. There is a wide array biomedical focus on metallic nanoparticles, especially silver nanoparticles, due to their distinctive physiochemical properties making them a suitable therapeutic molecule carrier. This research aims to provide a broad insight into the various classes of living organisms that can be exploited for the development of silver nanoparticles, and elaboratively review the interdisciplinary biomedical applications of biogenically synthesized silver nanoparticles in health and life sciences domains.
  • 1.2K
  • 13 Mar 2023
Topic Review
STAT3 in Cell Cycle Arrest and Regulation
There are seven STATs (STAT1, STAT2, STAT3, STAT4, STAT5a, STAT5b, and STAT6) that are intracellular proteins which function as signal messengers and transcription factors. They transmit signals from cytokines, growth factors, intracellular kinases, mutated oncoproteins, and other signaling pathways to the nucleus. STAT3 play critical roles within neoplastic cells, immune cells, and other stromal cells, such as cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs).
  • 897
  • 08 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Mitochondrial Therapy in HPV-Related Cancers
The mitochondria are organelles targeted by the human papillomavirus (HPV), and HPV-related cancers depend on the host’s mitochondria for their development and progression. On the other hand, the mitochondria are also important during pharmacological treatment, such as chemotherapy, since they are key organelles for the increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS), which significantly increases cell death due to the presence of oxidative stress (OS). In this way, the mitochondria in HPV infection and in the development of HPV-related cancer could be targeted to reduce or eliminate HPV infections or HPV-related cancers.
  • 968
  • 09 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Antimicrobial Activity from Rhodophyta and Chlorophyta Extracts
Macroalgae are aquatic photosynthetic organisms (mainly marine) belonging to the domain Eukarya. Macroalgae are mainly divided into three groups: red algae (Rhodophyta) and green algae (Chlorophyta), which are classified in kingdom Plantae, and brown algae (Ochrophyta, class Phaeophyceae), belonging to kingdom Chromista. Therefore, as terrestrial plants, macroalgae possess interesting biological activities that could be involved in the development of natural and innovative antibiotics. Macroalgae’s biological activities can vary among phyla.
  • 1.1K
  • 09 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Protein-Based Targeting Self-Assembling Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications
Targeted nanoparticles of different origins are considered as new-generation diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Targeted protein self-assembling nanoparticles circumvent this problem since proteins are encoded in DNA and the final protein product is produced in only one possible way. The combination of the endless biomedical potential of protein carriers as nanoparticles and the standardized protein purification protocols will make significant progress in “magic bullet” creation possible, bringing modern biomedicine to a new level. The entry focused on the currently existing platforms for targeted self-assembling protein nanoparticles based on transferrin, lactoferrin, casein, lumazine synthase, albumin, ferritin, and encapsulin proteins, as well as on proteins from magnetosomes and virus-like particles. The applications of these self-assembling proteins for targeted delivery in vitro and in vivo are thoroughly discussed, including bioimaging applications and different therapeutic approaches, such as chemotherapy, gene delivery, and photodynamic and photothermal therapy. 
  • 1.6K
  • 08 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Major Advances and Emerging Concepts of EPR-Enhancing Strategies
The enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect is dynamic and a phenomenon of tumor blood vessels, which is mostly dependent on blood flow. Animal models of solid tumors rich in blood flow demonstrated enhanced EPR effects. The strategies to enhance the EPR effect can be broadly classified into pharmacological and physical-based approaches.
  • 1.2K
  • 03 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Structure of Blood–Brain Barrier and Substance Transportation
The complex structure of the blood–brain barrier (BBB), which blocks nearly all large biomolecules, hinders drug delivery to the brain and drug assessment, thus decelerating drug development. Conventional in vitro models of BBB cannot mimic some crucial features of BBB in vivo including a shear stress environment and the interaction between different types of cells. There is a great demand for a new in vitro platform of BBB that can be used for drug delivery studies.
  • 1.8K
  • 01 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Nanoparticle-Based Approaches for Bone Regeneration
Bone regeneration is a complex process that includes skeletal cells such as osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and immune cells to regulate bone formation and resorption. Osteoimmunology, studying this complicated process, has recently been used to develop biomaterials for advanced bone regeneration. Ideally, a biomaterial shall enable a timely switch from early stage inflammatory (to recruit osteogenic progenitor cells) to later-stage anti-inflammatory (to promote differentiation and terminal osteogenic mineralization and model the microstructure of bone tissue) in immune cells, especially the M1-to-M2 phenotype switch in macrophage populations, for bone regeneration. Nanoparticle (NP)-based advanced drug delivery systems can enable the controlled release of therapeutic reagents and the delivery of therapeutics into specific cell types, thereby benefiting bone regeneration through osteoimmunomodulation.
  • 984
  • 28 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Antibody–Drug Conjugates Approved in Breast Cancer
Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs), with antibodies targeted against specific antigens linked to cytotoxic payloads, offer the opportunity for a more specific delivery of chemotherapy and other bioactive payloads to minimize side effects. First approved in the setting of HER2+ breast cancer, more recent ADCs have been developed for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer.
  • 1.5K
  • 28 Feb 2023
  • Page
  • of
  • 65

Other Entry Collections

>>