Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

Pharmaceutical biotechnology is a relatively novel and progressive field in which the principles of biotechnology are applied to the development of pharmaceuticals. A major part of therapeutic drugs (Approx 38%) in the current market available are biotechnologicals, such as antibodies, nucleic acid products and vaccines, enzymes, hormones, sera. Such bioformulations are developed through several stages that include: understanding the principles underlying health and disease; the fundamental molecular mechanisms governing the function of related biomolecules; synthesis and purification of the molecules; determining the product shelf life, stability, toxicity and immunogenicity; drug delivery systems.