overview of biotech (lect 1) Flashcards
What drug is Pfizer known for and what does it do?
Lipitor (atorvastatin).
It is an anti-hypercholesterolemic drug for lowering LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride.
State a side effect of Lipitor
hepatotoxicity
What type of drug is Lipitor
Statin, an enzyme inhibitor
Name a drug produced by Abbot/Abbvie and state its function
Humira (adalimumab) is a monoclonal antibody used to treat inflammatory diseases e.g. rheumatoid arthritis.
It is a maintenance (long term) medication
State 2 mab drugs form BMS that are used to treat cancer.
Yervoy which is anti-CTLA4.
Opdivo which is anti-PD1
CTLA4 and PD1 are protein receptors down regulating immune system. They are called immune checkpoint proteins.
State an upcoming cancer drug (mab)
Mercks’ Keytruda, which is used to treat head and neck squamous cell cancer
What is the best selling insulin in the market right now?
Lantus (it is a biobetter)
What enzyme does Lipitor inhibit?
HMG CoA reductase
What happens when a patent expires?
the intellectual property will be
part of the public domain; Others will be free to use and market the invention; the
patent inventor may stop receiving patent-related royalties.
What is ‘patent cliff’?
-expiration of patents for leading branded products
-competitors to introduce generic versions at lower prices.
-decline in revenue for drugmakers
-cost relief for patients seeking more affordable alternatives.
What is combinatorial chemistry?
Combinatorial chemistry is a synthesis strategy that enables the simultaneous
production of large numbers of related compounds. These sets are referred to as
libraries and they can be used in any discovery project associated with high-throughput analysis capabilities.
Combinatorial chemistry involves the generation of a large array of structurally
diverse compounds, called a chemical library, through systematic, repetitive and
covalent linkage of various “building blocks”. Once prepared, the compounds in the chemical library can be screened, concurrently, for individual interactions with biological targets of interest. Positive compounds can then be identified.
State the purpose of Provenge?
PROVENGE vaccine for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic
metastatic castration-resistant (i.e. hormone refractory) prostate cancer.
State some anti-VEGF (mab) drugs
Avastin, Lucentis, Eylea and SYFOVRE
What is the name of the hormone that is used to increase erythrocyte production?
Erythropoietin
Who made the first synthetic human insulin?
Herbert Voyer
What is insulin and what does it do?
Insulin is a key hormone in regulating
carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body
Insulin causes liver cells, muscle cells and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood and store it as glycogen in the liver and muscle
Describe the structure of insulin
Insulin is a peptide hormone composed of 51 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 5808 Da.
What does preproinsulin consist of?
signal peptide
A chain
B chain
C peptide
Briefly describe the process by which insulin is produced
- translation and translocation
- folding, oxidation and signal peptide cleavage
- ER export, golgi transport and vesicle packaging
- protease cleavage liberates C-peptide
- carboxypeptidase E produces mature insulin
What does zymogen form of insulin consist of?
A chain
B chain
C-peptide
How many disulphide bonds in A and B chain.
2 disulphide bonds connecting A chain an B chain
1 intra-peptide disulphide bond in A chain
How is humilin produced?
Produced as two separate chains with two different vectors in E.coli.
Re-assemble the mature A and B chains under oxidative conditions
Under what conditions are mature A and B chains re-assembled?
oxidative conditions
What are the challenges associated with producing insulin?
- folding and secretion
- unwanted protease activity
- purification process
- sterility and stability issues
What are the advantages of man-made/recombinant protein over naturally occurring insulin?
- no immunogenicity
- consistent product quality
- low cost
- no supply limitation
What are the advantages of recombinant GH over naturally occurring one?
- consistent product quality
- no JC virus
- not dependent on brain donors
- lower cost
Who determined the sequence of insulin?
Frederick Sanger
What are the main problems associated with insulin pumps?
- calibration issues
- technical issues
- accessibility issues
- higher cost
Name an inhalable form of insulin
Afreeza
What are the different types of insulin?
Rapid acting, short acting, intermediate acting and long acting
