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Progress in the understanding of disease mechanisms provides new opportunities to discover molecules that modulate disease. To capitalise on these opportunities, successful lead discovery strategies need to build on insights into how a cellular phenotype or a target contributes to disease biology. Recent advances in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs),…
3D printing (3DP) is attracting increasing interest as a new method of fabricating pharmaceutical products, especially with the recent United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the first three-dimensional (3D) printed tablet Spritam® (levetiracetam). 3DP is considered to be an additive manufacturing technique, because regardless of their principles of…
Over the past decade significant advances have been made in the fields of genomic and transcriptomic profiling, inspired by the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS). Yet despite the considerable promise of these new technologies, uptake has been slow. The focus of this review is the use of next-generation transcriptomic analysis…
The success story of Mapp Pharmaceuticals’ experimental drug, ZMapp, during last year’s Ebola outbreak highlights the potential of plant-made monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) as life-saving treatments.
A 2010 overview article on companion diagnostics, compiled by authors Stephen Naylor and Toby Cole, commented on the need for the companion diagnostic to fit into the logistics of the testing laboratory. The intervening five years have shown that patients are demanding more rapid and more convenient testing for diagnosis,…
The history of molecular probes can be traced back to 1871 with the synthesis of fluorescein by Adolf von Baeyer1. Through the simple combination of phthalic anhydride and resorcinol in the presence of zinc chloride, the dawn of a completely new era in chemistry and biology began...
In the biomedical arena the imaging of biological samples has long been a mainstay technology, not only furthering our understanding of fundamental biology, but also playing a key role in designing strategies and therapies to combat infection and disease...
History has demonstrated that the use of companion in vitro diagnostic tests to select cancer patients positive for a drug target significantly improves response to targeted anti-cancer therapies...
21 September 2015 | By Drug Target Review
Included in this issue: Drug Development, Microfluidics, Proteomics, Ion Channels, GPCR, Imaging, Flow Cytometry, Enzymes
In this Proteomics In-Depth Focus: David J. Britton & Pedro R. Cutillas from Barts Cancer Institute ask should LC-MS/MS proteomics guide targeted drug selection for cancer patients? And Manfred Raida from the National University of Singapore explains how mass spectrometry and drug development come together...
In our Imaging In-Depth Focus: Dimitri Scholz and Jeremy C. Simpson from University College Dublin discuss trends in contemporary microscopy, Rudi Marquez and Zuzana Flachbartova share the bright future for molecular probes and Grischa Chandy from Molecular Devices LLC discusses changes and advantages with HCS microscopy...
All new drugs rely, to a greater or lesser extent, on pre-existing research and development. Much of this pre-existing research will have resulted in patented methods and products. A major challenge for all researchers is therefore to develop new drugs which do not infringe other company’s patents.
All biopharmaceutical products are associated with an intrinsic potential to induce immune responses in treated subjects. Regulatory agencies expect sponsors to evaluate and mitigate these risks during product development, applying a strategy that addresses product- and patient-related factors. Overall, understanding and controlling immunogenicity-related risks are attainable objectives, and approvability should…
Microfluidic miniaturisation, or the so-called ‘lab-on-a-chip’ concept, now encroaches on the fields of biology, medicine and pharmacology, and the nature of microfluidic technology (small volumes and high-throughput integration of fluid connections) means that it is outperforming conventional bench work. There has been an incredible need for microfluidic technology in the…
Ion channels modulate and control many fundamental physiological processes in various tissues and alterations in their functions give rise to a wide range of pathophysiologies, which makes them important drug targets. Indeed, for decades, drugs modulating ion channel activity have been targeted by the pharmaceutical industry. Historically, however, developing drugs…
