Transcript Polymer-Drug Conjugates

Polymers In Pharmaceuticals
Makenzie Ball, Daniel BaconBrown,
Bill Martin, Ben Hastie
The Pharmaceutical Industry
• major development in
1900’s
• Complexity Cost
• Drug discovery &
development
• Controversy
• Current industry and
direction…
Polymer-Drug Conjugates
• Defined as “nano-sized
hybrid construct that
covalently combine a
bioactive agent with a
polymer”.
▫ Or, a polymer where
some of the monomers
act as drugs.
• These can be used to
significantly enhance
the effect of drugs.
Figure 1. Examples of polymer drug
conjugates.
Apoptosis
• Defined as programmed cellular death.
• Problems with the process cause: Alzheimers
and Huntington’s diseases, ischemia,
autoimmune disorders, and cancer.
• Cancer drugs usually work by inducing apoptosis
in the cancerous cells.
• However, they also induce apoptosis in noncancerous cells. This is why chemotherapy is so
toxic.
Use of polymer-drug conjugates to
induce apoptosis for cancer treatments
• Help target tumors
because of their
enhanced permeability
and retention effect.
• Improving drug activity.
• Lowering drug toxicity.
▫ TNP-470 is a conjugate
that avoids causing
harm to the brain
because it’s polymeric
aspect keeps it from
crossing the blood brain
barrier.
Figure 2. Example of a polymer-drug
conjugate.
Marketing-Section Needs
• Great need exist for “White Biotechnology”
▫ White biotechnology is technology produced from
natural enzymes that could be used to help
provide fuel, refine agricultural crops, and help
remove harmful products
▫ Pharmaceuticals will benefit from white
biotechnology in the form of antibotics
Marketing-Section Needs
• Another important need is in research and
analyzing current production lines
▫ 1st generation plants which generate current
biotechnology, including antibiotics, are outdated
 2nd generation plants will be radically different
▫ Current research in filtration shows vast
improvements to current industrial practices
▫ Research on carbon flux within cell will give
crucial leads on engineering practices
Pharmaceuticals Until 2020
• What major research activities will drive drug
discovery and development?
▫ Feed off research of biology, bioengineering,
materials science, and nanotechnology
▫ Holistic approach to combine diagnostics, drugs,
and devices
• What will the enabling technologies be?
▫ Ultrafast computing microprocessor technology
▫ Stem cell research
▫ Nanotechnologies
• What paradigm shifts will
there be in drug discovery,
development, regulation and
usage?
▫ Current business model of
discovery and development is
unlikely to be sustainable
with increased research and
development costs with low
yields
▫ Realign from product to
healthcare
▫ Integration
▫ Public-private development
partnerships
▫ Globalization
• How will changes in education
meet the demands of academia
industry and regulatory
institution?
▫ New products means new
technology
▫ Life-long learning programs
▫ Move from large lectures and
laboratories to focus on small
group teaching, problem
solving tutorials and
computer assisted learning
▫ Become more pharmaceutical
engineers
Conclusion
• Marketing
▫ Emphasis on white
biotechnology
• Roadmap
▫ Re-model business aspects
of drug discovery/develop.
▫ Specialized learning, more
engineering
• Current Technology
▫ Efficiency of treatments
could be better
▫ Polymers and cancer