Biopharmaceuticals

are

medical drugs
produced using
biotechnology. They are
proteins or nucleic acids
used for therapeutic or in
vivo diagnostic purposes

1.Protein pharmaceuticals
@ cow-pox-the first
protein vaccine
(Jenner,1796)
@insulin-first protein
pharmaceutical (Banting &
Best,1922)

a.Protein Pharmaceuticals
from blood
-The body contains 6L of
blood of which,60-70% is
plasma and 8-9% is
protein.Blood therefore is a
pharmaceutical cornucopia

b.Monoclonal

antibodies-are
specific for certain antigens
or cell types and can be used
to target foreign
toxins,viruses or cancer cells.
c.Peptide drugs-peptides can
be synthesized and used as
pharmaceuticals.

2.Protein Biopharmaceuticals
-these pharmaceuticals are
generated by recombinant
methods.Recombinant
methods were developed in
1970s and 1980s.
Paul Berg (1973) pioneered
the study of restriction
enzymes

Steps of Recombinant Methods

1.Isolation of gene of interest
2.Introduction of gene to expression
vector
3.Transformation of host cells with
recombinant expression
4.Growth of cells
5.Isolation & purification of protein
6.Characterization of protein
product

Common recombinant protein

expression systems include:
1.Bacteria(Ex.Escherichia coli)
2.Yeast (Ex.Pichia pastoris)
3. Insect cells(Ex.Drosophila
sp)
4. Animal cell culture
5. Plants and animals

3. DNA Biopharmaceuticals
Vaccines help body fight
infectious diseases.Traditional
vaccines may be
a)Attenuated form of the
pathogen,that is,live pathogen
is weakened through chemical
or physical process (Ex.
vaccines for measles and polio)

b)Whole pathogen that is

completely killed or
destroyed chemically (Ex.
Vaccines for flu
*A new generation of vaccine
is the recombinant DNA
vaccines.

Advantages of a DNA vaccine

1.Plasmids are easily
manufactured in large
amounts.
2.DNA is stable and it resists
temperature extremes.
3. The plasmid does not
replicate and encodes only the
proteins of interest.