New production processes promise to lower cost of biopharmaceuticals

Biopharmaceuticals have been used against many health conditions since biosynthetic human insulin was first approved as a therapy for diabetes in 1982.

Developed using recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology to produce molecules with novel genetic traits, bio-drugs are usually divided into different subgroups: substances that are virtually identical to the body’s own key signalling proteins such as the hormones insulin and erythropoietin; monoclonal antibodies with the same structure as the body’s own antibodies produced by immune cells; and fusion proteins formed from two or more genes. All play essential roles in modern medicine, often as treatments for life-threatening and disabling diseases such as cancer, diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis.

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