Antiretroviral therapies for HIV, while extremely effective, need to be taken daily for life. Designing antibody treatments that need to be taken only once could improve compliance and reduce drug resistance.
Gene therapies and vaccines are often injected into muscle cells that are inefficient at producing desired proteins. Making them work more like liver cells could lead to better treatment outcomes.
Predicting life expectancy remains in the realm of science fiction, but it may soon be possible. Are we prepared for such information? And who else would benefit from this knowledge?
Biologics, therapies made inside or of living cells, are a growing share of pharmaceutical sales. But the cost of these miracle treatments makes them unaffordable for many. New FDA guidance may help.
Small-batch brewers are starting to tinker with biologic drugs to meet their own medical needs. A side effect of their success would be a disruption to how big pharma makes and distributes drugs.
Negotiators from 11 countries have been racing to resurrect the near-dead Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit this weekend.
Before the last round of negotiations, only a handful of issues remained in the way of concluding the TPP. A potential deal-breaker for Australia was intellectual property protections for biologics.
Over the next few weeks, the trade minister will be under intense pressure to renege on the government’s commitment to reject anything in the Trans Pacific Partnership that could undermine the PBS.
Biologics are widely accepted as the most effective way of treating certain diseases. They have become the fastest-growing class of therapeutic compounds, with about 300 now available for human use.
Hope, fear, and desperation, along with the unique characteristics of the cancer drug market, create a “perfect storm” that continues to drive up prices for cancer drugs.
Research Fellow, NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in the Social Determinants of Health Equity, School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University