This review will explore the latest advancements spanning several facets of wound healing, including biologics, skin substitutes, biomembranes and scaffolds.

Aaron Kesselheim and colleagues examine potential strategies to promote greater prescribing of generic drugs and follow-on biologics.

A major endeavour in cancer chemotherapy is to develop agents that specifically target a biomolecule of interest. There are two main classes of targeting agents: small molecules and biologics. Among biologics (e.g.: antibodies), DNA, RNA but also peptide aptamers are relatively recent agents. Peptide aptamers are seldom described but represent attractive agents that can inhibit a growing panel ...

Nonclinical safety testing of new biotherapeutic entities represents its own challenges and opportunities in drug development. Hot topics in this field have been discussed recently at the 2nd Annual BioSafe European General Membership Meeting. In this feature article, discussions on the challenges surrounding the use of PEGylated therapeutic proteins, selection of cynomolgus monkey as preclinic...

SIR, We thank Dr Von Vollenhoven for his interest in our paper. The questions [1] he raises about our article that examined the cost–effectiveness of biologics using the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Registry (BSRBR) [2] provide an excellent opportunity to describe why decision modelling should be used in calculating a majority of cost–effectiveness ratios. We refer to an article b...

Life-altering biologic therapeutics are complex large molecules which include hormones, growth factors, interferons, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins and others. The time, cost and risk for advancing a biologic through the pipeline comes at a steep price. It is estimated that the development of a biologic therapeutic is as high as US$1.2 billion [1] versus the cost of devel...

Biologics that neutralize specific cytokines have improved outcomes for several immune-mediated disorders but may also increase risks for particular side effects. This article postulates potential immunologic consequences of inhibiting components of the IL-23/T-helper cell 17 pathway-the target of next-generation biologics for treating psoriasis-based on clinical phenotypes of inherent or acqui...

Background • Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory peripheral and/or axial arthritis associated with psoriasis, usually seronegative for rheumatoid factors1 • Patients with PsA also have debilitating skin disease, and nearly half may also have a spinal disease.2 PsA is estimated to affect 2.0% to 3.0% of the general population3 • To date, few studies have examined treatment persistence o...

Vasculitis syndromes are relative rare conditions but can cause significant mortality and morbidity if not treated adequately. Recent advances in immunosuppressant therapy have radically changed the course of these diseases. However, the standard therapy is not always well tolerated by patients, and some cases are refractory to treatment. New therapeutic possibilities have emerged with the use ...