Foreword

Research & Development

Nanotechnology Promise

Strategy

Empowering Patients in Asia

Persistent changes in the healthcare landscape in Asia are driving the demand for increased information to patients to empower them as consumers. Better access to information, more patient responsibility and a greater focus on prevention of disease should be the basis for modern healthcare in Asia.

Breaking Down Borders

Asian biotechnology industry

Cross-border collaboration in biotech industry has been emphasised by both the public and private sectors of many Asian countries. Although there are still many obstacles to overcome, such efforts have started to bear fruits.

RegionFocus

The Arab Drug Industry

Challenges and future potential

Though Arab drug industry is increasingly contributing to the production of biotechnology products, particularly vaccines and herbal medicines, the main challenge is to achieve the regional objective of self-sufficiency in the production of essential drugs and vaccines.

Open Source Drug Discovery

A feasible business model?

The concept of open source model which is a huge success in the software industry holds great promise for the pharma industry as it strives to lower the cost of drug discovery and improve the bottom lines.

Research and Development

Current Advances in Proteomics

Every single protein in the human body is a potential target for diagnosis and treatment of diseases. This article presents a brief description of biotechnology methods applied in proteomics that may help discovering new drugs.

Getting to the Bone

Fighting skeletal cancer metastases with specific T-lymphocytes

Breast, prostate and lung cancer most frequently metastasise to the skeleton Adoptive immunotherapy with antigen-specific T-lymphocytes may represent an alternative to  standard treatment modalities such as chemotherapy and radiation, which can only provide palliation.

Target Deconvolution in the Post-genomic Era

In times of reduced productivity coupled with increasing costs within the pharmaceutical industry, “reductionistic” target-based drug discovery has come under pressure and phenotype-based discovery has gained momentum. Target deconvolution is an important aspect for efficient progression of compounds towards development.

Improving Pharmaceutical R&D

Using Lean Sigma

Application of Lean Sigma to pharmaceutical research and development is a scientific process and requires high level of engagement from all key stakeholders.

Sonication-Assisted Nanoencapsulation

Nanoencapsulation of low soluble cancer drugs has been elaborated through powerful ultrasonication of the drug powder and simultaneous sequential polyelectrolyte deposition. This is a novel approach that allows change in capsule wall thickness to adjust drug release rate, and to attach an antibody at the outer shell layer for targeted delivery.

Nanobiomechanics and Human Diseases

Insights into the pathophysiology

Nanobiomechanics research carried out on human diseases provides new and important insights into their pathophysiology and may suggest new methods for early detection and diagnosis.

Unconventional Micro and Nanofabrication

Biological tools and assays developed through unconventional nanofabrication techniques are proving to be inexpensive.

Manufacturing

Cell-based Potency Assays

Adhering to GMP standards

The means of measuring the biological activity of a new drug is of critical importance to its release. The process through which a manufacturer can achieve this measure should be clearly defined before pre-clinical studies are initiated. The quality and validation requirements of these studies are defined in a number of regulations but experience of interpretation of these guidelines is essential in establishing a regulatory-compliant assay.

Single-use Bioprocess Containers

Economics of usage in Asia

Extensive adoption of single-use products in manufacturing has shown considerable cost reductions by limiting initial capital costs, utilities required and cleaning validation etc. Do they promise the same benefits in the Asian manufacturing scenario, where overall cost of production and labour are  significantly lower than in the West?

Large-scale Biochromatography

What lies ahead?

Many new approaches have been considered for large-scale chromatography including membrane adsorbers. The benefits and drawbacks of these devices and their potential impact on the biopharmaceutical industry are discussed.

Eliminating Guesswork

Automating PAT for process control

Modern process analytical technology systems generate continuous quality monitoring and provide plant process controllers with highly useful process information to increase the productivity and adhere to higher quality standards.

Using Chemometrics in PAT

Investigating data from the process

Processes of today are often equipped with sensors and measurement systems collecting large amount of data. Chemometrics is developed to handle large amount of data for overview (monitoring) and relations between raw materials, process parameters, instruments and Critical Quality Attributes.

PLM solution in packing and labelling

The pharma industry can add value, reduce costs and improve the overall quality of its products by improving packaging and labelling processes, enabled by integrated Product Lifecycle Management solutions.

Clinical Trials

Retention of Subjects

The question of informed consent

Although the factors that lead to the loss of subjects in clinical trials are poorly understood, lost to follow-up” is still too frequently recorded as an outcome. This article explores the issues involved in the planning and conduct of clinical trials, and suggests a number of practical and relatively simple steps that may be taken to enhance the retention of clinical trial subjects.

Demystifying Biomarker Discovery

The discovery of a disease biomarker using mass spectrometry involves careful planning and strategy. The article describes how a rheumatoid arthritis biomarker was identified and explains various steps in biomarker discovery.

Expert Talk

Effective Interactions

Institute - Industry

Clinical Trials in China