LEC 4 Flashcards
Pharmaceuticals vs biopharmaceuticals
- Pharmaceuticals are smaller molecules.
Biopharmaceuticals are larger molecules. - Pharmaceuticals are produced through chemical synthesis.
Biopharmaceuticals are produced in or extracted from living system/cells - Pharmaceuticals have defined (simpler) structures and easier to characterize.
Biopharmaceuticals have complex structures and more difficult to characterize. - Pharmaceuticals are relatively stable to heat and less prone to microbial contamination.
Biopharmaceuticals are more sensitive to heat and prone to microbial contamination.
Types of biological products
- Traditional Biological Medicinal Product (TBMP)
- Derived and extracted directly from human or animal tissues - Biotechnology-derived Medicinal Product (BDMP)
- Protein products are produced in living system via biotechnology
- 2 methods (Recombination DNA technology & Hybridoma technology)
Examples of biological medicinal products
- Protein
- Sugars
- Nucleic acids
- Hormones
- Vaccines
What is biotechnology?
It is the use of living cells/organisms, or their products to modify human and animal heath, mankind and his environment
In Recombinant DNA technology, what does the recombinant plasmid contains?
- Target gene
- Promoter
- Antibiotic-resistance gene
Bacterial cell + recombinant plasmid
= transformed bacteria cell
Why is myeloma cells used in hybridoma technology?
Myeloma cells are tumor cells with immortality. They can divide and replicate rapidly and in large quantity, leading to increased production of BDMP
Antibody-producing CHO cells + myeloma (tumor) cells
= hybridoma cells (antibody-producing ability & immortality)
Bacteria cell vs Mammalian cells (5)
- Bacteria cells cultivation is faster (~20min/generation), relative straightforward fermentation.
Mammalian cells cultivation is slower (~20-24h/generation), relatively complicated cell culture. - Protein product from bacteria cells are simpler due to the lack of post-translational modification.
Protein product from mammalian cells are more complex with post-translational modification (eg glycosylation) - Bacteria cells store the protein product intracellularly, hence disruption of cell is needed to harvest product.
Mammalian cells secrete the protein product extracellularly, hence disruption of cell is not needed. - There is a lower yield of protein product from bacteria cell due to more difficult purification.
There is a higher yield of protein product from mammalian cell due to less difficult purification. - Bacteria cells produce relatively safe biotechnological product.
Mammalian cells produce biological products with many safety concerns (eg endogenous viruses and carcinogenic residual DNA)
Criteria to use mammalian cells (eg CHO cells) for BDMP
Purification process can reduce carcinogenic residual DNA < 10ng/dose
Critical GMP and QA issues to address (5)
- Genetic stability of host cell with plasmid / vector / gene of interest
- Absence of impurities from nutrient media & starting material
- Assuring quality & yield
- Absence of endogenous (eg herpes virus, EBV & retrovirus) and adventitious viruses
- Elimination of potentially carcinogenic residual DNA
What is a biosimilar product?
A biosimilar product is a biological product that is “highly similar” and has no significant difference from an existing FDA approved reference product (aka innovator product)
Minor differences in clinically-inactive components are acceptable (eg buffers & stabilisers)
Definition of “highly similar”
High degree of similarity in terms of
- Molecular structure & potency (medchem)
- Toxicity
- PK
- PD
- Immunogenicity
Why is biosimilar important?
Reduce price of similarly efficacious treatment to innovator products
Does GMP and quality assurance requirements for innovator product applicable to biosimilar products?
Yes.
Major steps in manufacture of BDMP (7)
- Cell banking
- Cell cultivation
- Harvesting
- Purification
- Viral clearance (viral inactivation & removal)
- Batching & storage of bulk biological API
- Formulation, filling & packaging into final dosage form
Inspection of GMP compliance to be done for all 7 steps
Types of cell banks (2)
- Master Cell Bank (MCB)
- Contains well-characterised cells derived from specific cell line
- more tests conducted on MCB - Working Cell Bank (WCB)
- Less tests are done for WCB before use for manufacture
- derived from one or more containers of MCB
Inspection of Cell Bank system (step1) (3)
- Documentation of cell origin & history
- Management of cell banks
- Contract with outsourced testing laboratories (cos need expertise)
Cell cultivation definition
Refers to both microbial fermentation and mammalian cell culturing