Healthcare Biotech products and techniques can be found in four major areas of healthcare, including: biopharmaceuticals, gene therapy, diagnostic testing and tissue replacement.
Therapeutic drugs and vaccines made using biotech techniques are referred to as “biopharmaceuticals,” and are likely to become the leaders in the treatment of a plethora of disease conditions. Areas of active research include autoimmune disorders, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, genetic defects, infectious diseases, nephrology and neurological disorders. Specifically, biopharmaceuticals targeting anemia, cancer, heart disease, impotence, infectious diseases, lysosomal storage disorders, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis will likely be the most prevalent in the remainder of the decade. Most biotech research in the development of pharmaceuticals is essentially atwo-step process. Because the human proteome (the full complement of proteins in human beings) is composed of over 100,000 proteins, each with a specific function in the cell, biotech researchers first begin by identifying those proteins most likely to be responsible for the formation of a specific disease. Such a protein then becomes the “target.” The field of endeavor that studies the human proteome is called “proteomics;” its goal is to understand the role of proteins in the formation of disease. Once a target has been identified, the second step can begin – the creation of therapeutic agents that can react with the protein to alter the pathway of a disease process. To date, some 500 targets have been identified, with almost 5,000 more possible by 2010.
Biotech products based on proteomics include protein-based drugs (administered by various modes of injection), such as monoclonal antibodies that may bind to cell surface receptors, and orally available small-molecule drugs (administered as a pill or capsule) that modulate cellular signaling. A sister field to proteomics is “genomics,” the study of the human genome – the full complement of genes in a human being. In addition to mapping genes, genomics seeks to determine their nucleic acid structures and understand their functions. Genes – like proteins – form a base from which additional targets can be identified. Gene therapy employs agents specifically directed against genetic targets.
Together, proteomics and genomics are reshaping the drug development landscape of the modern biopharmaceutical industry and rendering the process of creating therapeutic agents more precise, more efficient and more predictable.
Biotech techniques are also being applied in diagnostic testing. Among the tests currently available are monoclonal antibody-based tests, genetic probes, DNA amplification and agents to improve in vitro diagnostic imaging. Finally, biotechnology applications are being used to replace diseased or destroyed tissues. The technique is based on a substance called tissue plasminogen activator (TPA), made in the inner lining of blood vessels. TPA’s main function is to prevent abnormal blood clotting.
Therapeutic drugs and vaccines made using biotech techniques are referred to as “biopharmaceuticals,” and are likely to become the leaders in the treatment of a plethora of disease conditions. Areas of active research include autoimmune disorders, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, genetic defects, infectious diseases, nephrology and neurological disorders. Specifically, biopharmaceuticals targeting anemia, cancer, heart disease, impotence, infectious diseases, lysosomal storage disorders, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis will likely be the most prevalent in the remainder of the decade. Most biotech research in the development of pharmaceuticals is essentially atwo-step process. Because the human proteome (the full complement of proteins in human beings) is composed of over 100,000 proteins, each with a specific function in the cell, biotech researchers first begin by identifying those proteins most likely to be responsible for the formation of a specific disease. Such a protein then becomes the “target.” The field of endeavor that studies the human proteome is called “proteomics;” its goal is to understand the role of proteins in the formation of disease. Once a target has been identified, the second step can begin – the creation of therapeutic agents that can react with the protein to alter the pathway of a disease process. To date, some 500 targets have been identified, with almost 5,000 more possible by 2010.
Biotech products based on proteomics include protein-based drugs (administered by various modes of injection), such as monoclonal antibodies that may bind to cell surface receptors, and orally available small-molecule drugs (administered as a pill or capsule) that modulate cellular signaling. A sister field to proteomics is “genomics,” the study of the human genome – the full complement of genes in a human being. In addition to mapping genes, genomics seeks to determine their nucleic acid structures and understand their functions. Genes – like proteins – form a base from which additional targets can be identified. Gene therapy employs agents specifically directed against genetic targets.
Together, proteomics and genomics are reshaping the drug development landscape of the modern biopharmaceutical industry and rendering the process of creating therapeutic agents more precise, more efficient and more predictable.
Biotech techniques are also being applied in diagnostic testing. Among the tests currently available are monoclonal antibody-based tests, genetic probes, DNA amplification and agents to improve in vitro diagnostic imaging. Finally, biotechnology applications are being used to replace diseased or destroyed tissues. The technique is based on a substance called tissue plasminogen activator (TPA), made in the inner lining of blood vessels. TPA’s main function is to prevent abnormal blood clotting.
