Biopharmaceuticals: an overview

Biopharmaceuticals drugs structurally mimics compounds found within the body and are produced using biotechnologies. These have the potential to cure diseases rather than merely treat symptoms, and have fewer side effects because of their specificity, for example, cytokines, enzymes, hormones, clotting factors, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, cell therapies, antisense drugs, and peptide therapeutics. Emerging technologies in the area of biopharmaceuticals include manufacture of monoclonal antibodies in protein free media, designing chemically defined cells, genome based technologies, improving vaccine manufacturing processes, a potential cancer treatment and non-ribosomal peptide synthesis. Biopharmaceuticals have changed the treatment ways of many diseases like diabetes, malignant disorders; since these can be tailored for specific medical problems in different individuals. With biotechnology, any drug can be genetically modified using cell fusion or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-recombinant technologies to alter specificities for individual diseases. Some distinct advantages of biotechnological processes include fewer side effects and more potent effect on target cells. Biopharmaceuticalsû greatest potential lies in gene therapy and genetic engineering.