Biophysics For Therapeutic Protein Development

This book can be used to provide insight into this important application of biophysics for those who are planning a career in protein therapeutic development, and for those outside this area who are interested in understanding it better. The initial chapters describe the underlying theory, and strengths and weaknesses of the different techniques commonly used during therapeutic development. The majority of the chapters discuss the applications of these techniques, including case studies, across the product lifecycle from early discovery, where the focus is on identifying targets, and screening for potential drug product candidates, through expression and purification, large scale production, formulation development, lot-to-lot comparability studies, and commercial support including investigations.

With the recent completion of the sequencing of the human genome, it is widely anticipated that the number of potential new protein drugs and targets will escalate at an even greater rate than that observed in recent years. However, identification of a potential target is only part of the process in developing these new next generation protein-based “drugs” that are increasingly being used to treat human disease. Once a potential protein drug has been identified, the next rate-limiting step on the road to development is the production of sufficient authentic material for testing, charact- ization, clinical trials, and so on. If a protein drug does actually make it through this lengthy and costly process, methodology that allows the production of the protein on a scale large enough to meet demand must be implemented. Furthermore, large-scale production must not compromise the authenticity of the final product. It is also nec- sary to have robust methods for the purification, characterization, viral inactivation and continued testing of the authenticity of the final protein product and to be able to formulate it in a manner that retains both its biological activity and lends itself to easy administration. Therapeutic Proteins: Methods and Protocols covers all aspects of protein drug production downstream of the discovery stage. This volume contains contributions from leaders in the field of therapeutic protein expression, purification, characterization, f- mulation, and viral inactivation.

With a focus on practical applications of biophysical techniques, this book links fundamental biophysics to the process of biopharmaceutical development. • Helps formulation and analytical scientists in pharma and biotech better understand and use biophysical methods • Chapters organized according to the sequential nature of the drug development process • Helps formulation, analytical, and bioanalytical scientists in pharma and biotech better understand and usestrengths and limitations of biophysical methods • Explains how to use biophysical methods, the information obtained, and what needs to be presented in a regulatory filing, assess impact on quality and immunogenicity • With a focus on practical applications of biophysical techniques, this book links fundamental biophysics to the process of biopharmaceutical development.

In this volume, the authors discuss the many significant challenges currently faced in biotechnology dosage form development, providing guidance, shared experience and thoughtful reflection on how best to address these potential concerns. As the field of therapeutic recombinant therapeutic proteins enters its fourth decade and the market for biopharmaceuticals becomes increasingly competitive, companies are increasingly dedicating resources to develop innovative biopharmaceuticals to address unmet medical needs. Often, the pharmaceutical development scientist is encountering challenging pharmaceutical properties of a given protein or by the demands placed on the product by stability, manufacturing and preclinical or clinical expectations, as well as the evolving regulatory expectations and landscape. Further, there have been new findings that require close assessment, as for example those related to excipient quality, processing, viscosity and device compatibility and administration, solubility and opalescence and container-closure selection. The literature varies widely in its discussion of these critical elements and consensus does not exist. This topic is receiving a great deal of attention within the biotechnology industry as well as with academic researchers and regulatory agencies globally. Therefore, this book is of interest for business leaders, researchers, formulation and process development scientists, analytical scientists, QA and QC officers, regulatory staff, manufacturing leaders and regulators active in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, and expert reviewers in regulatory agencies.

Therapeutic Proteins and Peptides, Volume 112 in an ongoing series promotes further research in the discovery of new therapeutic targets that can be affected by therapeutic proteins and peptides to cure or manage symptoms of human diseases, with this release focusing on the Rational Design of Stable Liquid Formulations of Biopharmaceuticals, Formulation strategies for peptides, proteins and antibodies using nanotechnology, the Solution structural dynamics of therapeutic peptides and their adsorption on plasmonic nanoparticles, Enzymatic approaches of protein-polymer conjugation, Chimeric small antibody fragments as a strategy to deliver therapeutic payloads, Smart cell-penetrating peptide-based techniques for cytoplasmic delivery of therapeutic macromolecules, and more. Describes advances in the discovery and application of therapeutic proteins/peptides which allow better targeting to the site of treatment and cause fewer adverse effects when compared to chemical compounds used for disease treatment Targeted to a very wide audience of specialists, researchers and students Written by well-renown authorities in their field Includes a number of high quality illustrations, figures and tables

Biophysical Characterization of Proteins in Developing Biopharmaceuticals, Second Edition, presents the latest on the analysis and characterization of the higher-order structure (HOS) or conformation of protein based drugs. Starting from the very basics of protein structure, this book explains the best way to achieve this goal using key methods commonly employed in the biopharmaceutical industry. This book will help today’s industrial scientists plan a career in this industry and successfully implement these biophysical methodologies. This updated edition has been fully revised, with new chapters focusing on the use of chromatography and electrophoresis and the biophysical characterization of very large biopharmaceuticals. In addition, best practices of applying statistical analysis to biophysical characterization data is included, along with practical issues associated with the concept of a biopharmaceutical’s developability and the technical decision-making process needed when dealing with biophysical characterization data. Presents basic protein characterization methods and tools applicable to (bio)pharmaceutical research and development Highlights the capabilities and limitations of each technique Discusses the underlining science of each tool Empowers industrial biophysical chemists by providing a roadmap for applying biophysical tools Outlines the needs for new characterization and analytical tools in the biopharmaceutical industry

“Biobetters: Protein Engineering to Approach the Curative” discusses the optimization of protein therapeutic products for treatment of human diseases. It is based on the fact that though numerous important therapeutic protein products have been developed for life threatening and chronic diseases that possess acceptable safety and efficacy profiles, these products have generally not been reexamined and modified for an improved clinical performance, with enhancements both to safety and efficacy profiles. Advances in protein engineering, coupled with greatly enhanced understanding of critical product quality attributes for efficacy and safety, make it possible to optimize predecessor products for clinical performance, thereby enhancing patient quality of life and with the potential for great savings in health care costs. Yet despite such knowledge, there is little movement towards such modifications. This book examines engineering protein therapeutic products such that they exhibit an optimal, not just an adequate, clinical performance profile. Two product classes, therapeutic enzymes for lysosomal storage diseases (enzyme replacement therapies, ERT) and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), are used as examples of what modifications to such proteins could be made to enhance clinical performance, “closer to a cure” as it were. For ERT, the key to optimizing clinical performance is to ensure the ERT is endowed with moieties that target the protein to the relevant target tissue. Thus, for Gaucher Disease, our best example of how to optimize an ERT to address a disease that manifests in specific target tissues (macrophages and monocytes), the enzyme has been extensively modified to target macrophages. For diseases such as Pompe Disease, largely a disorder of muscle, optimal performance of ERT will depend on endowing the enzyme with the ability to be taken up via the Mannose 6 Phosphate Receptor, and so one of the chapters in the book will discuss such approaches. Moreover, a major failure of biotechnology based products is to gain access to the CNS, a key target tissue in numerous diseases. Thus, a chapter has been devoted to strategies to access the CNS. Additionally, immune responses to therapeutic proteins can be highly problematic, eliminating the efficacy of life saving or highly effective protein therapeutics. This is especially poignant in the case of Pompe Disease wherein great improvement in muscle strength and functionality is lost following development of an immune response to the ERT with consequent patient deterioration and death. Thus, a chapter regarding protein engineering, as well as other non-clinical approaches to diminishing immunogenicity is a valuable part of the book. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can be engineered to bind targets relevant to a wide variety of diseases; binding affinity, however, is only part of the equation and one of the chapters will present a molecular assessment approach that balances affinity with pharmacokinetics and manufacturability. As with other proteins immunogenicity can be problematic, being responsible for loss of efficacy of anti-TNF mAbs, often after prolonged successful treatment. The authors will also share their perspective on the consequences of physico-chemical modifications occurring to mAbs once they reach the circulation or their target, a research area open to further development from a protein engineering as well as analytical perspective. This book will also discuss novel platforms for protein therapeutics, technologies that exceed mAbs with respect to potency, and hence, potentially efficacy. These platforms consist largely of repeat domain proteins with very high affinity for their target ligands, but while potentially more efficacious, immunogenicity may be a major problem limiting use. The economics surrounding the issue of biobetters is another high-profile issue - this final chapter will explore the incentives and disincentives for developing biobetters and consider incentives that might make their pursuit more rewarding.

This volume provides an overview of the development and scope of molecular biophysics and in-depth discussions of the major experimental methods that enable biological macromolecules to be studied at atomic resolution. It also reviews the physical chemical concepts that are needed to interpret the experimental results and to understand how the structure, dynamics, and physical properties of biological macromolecules enable them to perform their biological functions. Reviews of research on three disparate biomolecular machines—DNA helicases, ATP synthases, and myosin--illustrate how the combination of theory and experiment leads to new insights and new questions.