This book explains both the basic science and the applications of biotechnology-derived pharmaceuticals, with special emphasis on their clinical uses. The foundations of pharmaceutical biotechnology lie mainly in the capability of plants, microorganism, and animals to produce low and high molecular weight compounds useful as therapeutics. Pharmaceutical biotechnology has flourished since the advent of recombinant DNA technology and metabolic engineering, supported by the well-developed bioprocess technology. A large number of monoclonal antibodies and therapeutic proteins have been approved, delivering meaningful contributions to patients’ lives, and the techniques of biotechnology are also a driving force in modern drug discovery. Due to this rapid growth in the importance of biopharmaceuticals and the techniques of biotechnologies to modern medicine and the life sciences, the field of pharmaceutical biotechnology has become an increasingly important component in the education of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. This book will serve as a complete one-stop source on the subject for undergraduate and graduate pharmacists, pharmaceutical science students, and pharmaceutical scientists in industry and academia.

Americans praise medical technology for saving lives and improving health. Yet, new technology is often cited as a key factor in skyrocketing medical costs. This volume, second in the Medical Innovation at the Crossroads series, examines how economic incentives for innovation are changing and what that means for the future of health care. Up-to-date with a wide variety of examples and case studies, this book explores how payment, patent, and regulatory policiesâ€"as well as the involvement of numerous government agenciesâ€"affect the introduction and use of new pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and surgical procedures. The volume also includes detailed comparisons of policies and patterns of technological innovation in Western Europe and Japan. This fact-filled and practical book will be of interest to economists, policymakers, health administrators, health care practitioners, and the concerned public.

Improving and Accelerating Therapeutic Development for Nervous System Disorders is the summary of a workshop convened by the IOM Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders to examine opportunities to accelerate early phases of drug development for nervous system drug discovery. Workshop participants discussed challenges in neuroscience research for enabling faster entry of potential treatments into first-in-human trials, explored how new and emerging tools and technologies may improve the efficiency of research, and considered mechanisms to facilitate a more effective and efficient development pipeline. There are several challenges to the current drug development pipeline for nervous system disorders. The fundamental etiology and pathophysiology of many nervous system disorders are unknown and the brain is inaccessible to study, making it difficult to develop accurate models. Patient heterogeneity is high, disease pathology can occur years to decades before becoming clinically apparent, and diagnostic and treatment biomarkers are lacking. In addition, the lack of validated targets, limitations related to the predictive validity of animal models - the extent to which the model predicts clinical efficacy - and regulatory barriers can also impede translation and drug development for nervous system disorders. Improving and Accelerating Therapeutic Development for Nervous System Disorders identifies avenues for moving directly from cellular models to human trials, minimizing the need for animal models to test efficacy, and discusses the potential benefits and risks of such an approach. This report is a timely discussion of opportunities to improve early drug development with a focus toward preclinical trials.

Originally published in 2012, revised edition published in 2013, by Fourth Estate, Great Britain; Published in the United States in 2012, revised edition also, by Faber and Faber, Inc.

Pharmaceutical process research and development is an exacting, multidisciplinary effort but a somewhat neglected discipline in the chemical curriculum. This book presents an overview of the many facets of process development and how recent advances in synthetic organic chemistry, process technology and chemical engineering have impacted on the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. In 15 concise chapters the book covers such diverse subjects as route selection and economics, the interface with medicinal chemistry, the impact of green chemistry, safety, the crucial role of physical organic measurements in gaining a deeper understanding of chemical behaviour, the role of the analyst, new tools and innovations in reactor design, purification and separation, solid state chemistry and its role in formulation. The book ends with an assessment of future trends and challenges. The book provides a valuable overview of: both early and late stage chemical development, how safe and scaleable synthetic routes are designed, selected and developed, the importance of the chemical engineering, analytical and manufacturing interfaces, the key enabling technologies, including catalysis and biocatalysis, the importance of the green chemical perspective and solid form issues. The book, written and edited by experts in the field, is a contemporary, holistic treatise, with a logical sequence for process development and mini-case histories within the chapters to bring alive different aspects of the process. It is completely pharmaceutical themed, encompassing all essential aspects, from route and reagent selection to manufacture of the active compound. The book is aimed at both graduates and postgraduates interested in a career in the pharmaceutical industry. It informs them about the breadth of the work carried out in chemical research and development departments, and gives them a feel for the challenges involved in the job. The book is also of value to academics who often understand the drug discovery arena, but have far less appreciation of the drug development area, and are thus unable to advise their students about the relative merits of careers in chemical development versus discovery.

Perceptions that the pace of new-drug development has slowed and that the pharmaceutical industry is highly profitable have sparked concerns that significant problems loom for future drug development. This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study-prepared at the request of the Senate Majority Leader-reviews basic facts about the drug industry's recent spending on research and development (R&D) and its output of new drugs. The study also examines issues relating to the costs of R&D, the federal government's role in pharmaceutical research, the performance of the pharmaceutical industry in developing innovative drugs, and the role of expected profits in private firms' decisions about investing in drug R&D. In keeping with CBO's mandate to provide objective, impartial analysis, the study makes no recommendations. David H. Austin prepared this report under the supervision of Joseph Kile and David Moore. Colin Baker provided valuable consultation...