Interferon The Dawn Of Recombinant Protein Drugs

Forty years of Interferon I wish to dedicate this short introduction to the memory of Alick Isaacs (1921-1967), and to that of Sir Christopher Andrewes (1896-1988). Let us go back more than 40 years. In 1956 Isaacs was in charge of the Wodd Influenza Centre. Andrewes was head of the division of bac teriology and virology, and deputy director of the National Institute for Medical Research in London. When researchers are faced with a seemingly new phenomenon, ex planations are easy to come by. These explanations fall into two broad categories: the phenomenon in question is either due to something or to the lack of something. I apologize for the primitive way in which I ex press this, but I am going to give three examples, scattered over 100 years, of what I mean. First example: in 1880 the great French microbiologist Louis Pas teur was involved in work on chicken cholera. He was struck by the following observation: if a suitable chicken broth was inoculated with the bacterium, the organism grew profusely and the liquid became tur bid. If he now freed the fluid, by sedimentation or filtration, from the bulk of the organisms and re-inoculated it with the same bacterium, no growth occurred.

Recombinant protein drugs are intimately associated with the impressive success story of the Biotech Industry during the past thirty years, some of them belonging to the most successful pharmaceutical products. More than thirty different proteins are available for a variety of clinical applications, over 300 proteins are presently being evaluated in clinical trials. In this new volume of the MDT series, historical, technical and clinical aspects of recombinant protein drug discovery and development are presented, covering past, present and future highlights. Leading scientists and co-founders of early Biotech companies describe technical breakthroughs and the fascinating story of pioneering discoveries, as well as the long way of translating them into products and business. Therefore, this book represents an exciting documentation of the beginning of a new era in the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, scientists from basic research, clinic and industry actively involved in new developments discuss...

At long last, the first book to cover all important areas of interferon science in one volume. Top scientists, including many pioneers in the field, highlight the role of interferons as research tools and as therapeutic agents in clinical applications. Edited by an experienced interferonologist, chapters include discussions of interferon genes, Type I, II and III IFNs, as well as their induction, production and purification, receptors actions, measuring IFN activities and anti-IFN antibodies, as well as the evolution of viral defense mechanisms. For immunologists, cancer researchers, medicinal chemists, cell biologists, developmental biologists and the pharmaceutical industry.

This book explores the journey of biotechnology, searching for new avenues and noting the impressive accomplishments to date. It has harmonious blend of facts, applications and new ideas. Fast-paced biotechnologies are broadly applied and are being continuously explored in areas like the environmental, industrial, agricultural and medical sciences. The sequencing of the human genome has opened new therapeutic opportunities and enriched the field of medical biotechnology while analysis of biomolecules using proteomics and microarray technologies along with the simultaneous discovery and development of new modes of detection are paving the way for ever-faster and more reliable diagnostic methods. Life-saving bio-pharmaceuticals are being churned out at an amazing rate, and the unraveling of biological processes has facilitated drug designing and discovery processes. Advances in regenerative medical technologies (stem cell therapy, tissue engineering, and gene therapy) look extremely promising, transcending the limitations of all existing fields and opening new dimensions for characterizing and combating diseases.

This innovative study charts the beginnings, history and fate of Interferon - one of modern medicine's most famous and infamous drugs. Interferon is part of the medical profession's armoury against viral infection, cancer and MS. The story of its development and use is one of survival in the face of remarkable cycles of promise and disappointment as a miracle drug. By telling this story, Toine Pieters' book provides insight into the research, manufacture, and marketing of new bio-molecules that mark modern medical science. Pieters' closely argued book adopts a multi-disciplinary approach in seeking to trace the extraordinary voyage of interferon. Through the lens of interferon's voyage, the book explores the interaction of the broad range of actors driving medical science: *biological and clinical researchers *the pharmaceutical industry *high-powered government agencies *doctors and patients *the media. The book demonstrates how research on interferon led to new clinical definitions of cancer and a new rationale for therapeutic use of the drug. Interferon provides a marvellous insight into the development of one of the most controversial drugs of our time. It enhances our understanding of how medicine manufacture and marketing all played a part in pushing back the boundaries of research, from the post-penicillin era to the genetics revolution in medicine. This study is of particular interest to undergraduates and postgraduates in the fields of History of Medicine, Pharmacology, Medical Genetics and History of Science.

Chemical genomics is a highly interdisciplinary and very exciting field of research both in academics and in the life sciences industry. The Ernst Schering Research Foundation Workshop 58 was organized to bring together scientific leaders in the field to discuss the implications of chemical genomics for drug discovery. Various aspects of the interface between chemistry and biology are covered in this volume, such as chemogenomics efforts in the pharmaceutical industry, diversity-oriented synthesis, chemogenomic approaches to the study of cell function, screening technologies, and natural products as tools in chemical biology.

Professor Egon Diczfalusy, a pioneer in gynaecological endocrinology and in particular female contraception, celebrated his 80th birthday with a scientific symposium. The participants were scientists from all over the world who had been scholars and close collaborators at different points in time. The interdisciplinary meeting consisted of lectures on the epidemiological impacts of ageing, its challenge for the pharmaceutical industry, philosophical aspects of the future of mankind, and the history and future of contraception. Three round table discussions addressed the hormonal control of reproduction and ageing, new approaches and future perspectives of contraception for women and men, and hormone replacement in the elderly.

Pharmaceutical companies are spending increasing amounts of money on drug discovery and development. Nevertheless, attrition rates in clinical development are still very high, and up to 90% of new compounds fail in clinical phase I - III trials, which is partially due to lack of clinical efficacy. This indicates a strong need for highly predictive in vitro and in vivo models. The "50th International Workshop of the Ernst Schering Research Foundation" focussed on "Animal Models of T Cell-Mediated Skin Diseases". Such animal models should have impact not only on inflammatory dermatoses but also on other inflammatory disorders due to their model character. The current volume summarises recent advances in animal research that are important for anti-inflammatory drug discovery.

The Ernst Schering Workshop on Chemokine Roles in Immunoregulation and Disease, with contributions by leading experts in the field, succinctly summarizes cutting-edge research in immunology, protein chemistry, and disease. This book gives an up-to-date overview of important developments in immunology with a concise, state-of-the-art review of chemokines. It is a time-saving reference for both researchers and students, providing fast and easy access to the latest information in this important area of research.

The current progress in molecular medicine allows the identification of a plethora of new and often human-specific drug targets. An early in vivo validation of specific ligands binding to these targets in humans is needed to assess their potential for targeted imaging and radiotherapy. Radiopharmaceuticals are uniquely suitable for such target validation studies. The purpose of the Ernst Schering Research Foundation Workshop 48 was to offer a forum for an open exchange on the state of the art in the early development of such radiopharmaceuticals. Experts from academia, industry and regulatory authorities provided contributions covering the identification of targets, the necessary preclinical studies on the safety of ligands as well as their validation in human clinical trials.