Alcami recently contributed to a special feature in the August / September issue of Chemicals Knowledge magazine, titled "Considerations for Approval of Biosimilars."

Biosimilars are sometimes incorrectly considered equivalent to a generic small molecule therapeutic, but for a biologic drug product, the clinical and regulatory pathways are quite different. Alcami Commercial Development Manager Cheryl Johnson explains the distinct differences in the FDA’s definition, development strategy, and regulatory approval pathways.

Abeona Therapeutics, Inc. is a fully-integrated gene and cell therapy company at the forefront of the rapidly-advancing field of genetic medicine. Their late-stage candidate, EB-101, is an autologous, ex-vivo, gene-corrected cell therapy poised to enter a Phase 3 clinical trial for Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (RDEB).

Read this case study to learn how Alcami's extensive experience with small and large molecule development services, regulatory compliance, and specialty techniques helpedensure the quality, safety, and efficacy of raw materials used in Abeona's EB-101 manufacturing batches.

Alcami recently contributed to a special feature in Drug Development and Delivery magazine titled "Designing a CMC Strategy for Accelerated Development of Biotherapeutics."

As the pipeline of biologic drugs intended to treat complex disease expands, the typical timeline for drug development seems to be shortening more frequently and with more intensity. There are many drivers to accelerate development.

Alcami recently contributed to a roundtable discussion in Pharma's Almanac magazine, answering the question:

"What truly novel therapies in the earliest stages of discovery and development do you believe will have a significant impact in the future?" 

The article shares insights to this question from Alcami, along with other companies in the biologics space.

Biopharmaceutical products represent up to 20 percent of the total pharmaceutical market and are growing at a rate of nearly eight percent annually. To keep up with this impressive growth rate, many contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) are making strategic investments in equipment and expertise to support analytical development and structural characterization of biopharmaceuticals in more economical and efficient ways.^[1]

Unlike small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) that exist as a single chemical entity, biologics nearly always exist as a mixture of molecules. Different molecules can arise from numerous sources including N-terminal variants, post-translation modifications (PTMs), glycoforms, and degradation products. Due to the potentially high amount of heterogeneity in the biologic, it is critical to demonstrate control over the drug substance (DS) manufacturing process from fermentation to purification and protein re-folding. Characterization of the various molecules is the first step in demonstrating process control. High-resolution mass spectrometry is a key component in the characterization of novel biologics and biosimilars.

The biologics market represents the leading edge of novel therapeutics and is the fastest growing cross-section of the pharmaceutical industry—by some accounts, increasing as much as eight percent annually, or twice the growth rate of small molecule therapeutics. With advancements in DNA technology and increasing investments in personalized medicine, the sky is the limit for the biologics industry. This Q&A with biologics expert, Cheryl Johnson, will address the most common questions asked about this rapidly growing therapeutic field.

By some estimates, the pre-approval cost of drug development is a staggering $2.5 billion per drug and takes an average of ten years from discovery to reach market. For novel therapeutics, the highest risk is during early phase development, and biologics are no different. However, biologics drug product manufacturers face some unique challenges because they are made from biological sources. Some of these challenges are batch-to-batch consistency, changing impurity profiles, and molecular instability.

Requirements from regulatory agencies have become increasingly rigorous with regards to the detection, identification, and quantitation of extractable and leachable compounds in pharmaceuticals, drug delivery systems, and biomedical devices. This heightened scrutiny is the result of several well‐documented incidents of contaminants leaching from containers and packaging, causing potential or real risk to humans. Therefore, regulatory agencies, such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA), have increased regulations on potential extractables and leachables in drug product container and closure systems.

Part One: Biologics and the Problem with Residual DNA 

Part Two: Cell-Based Bioassays 

Part Three: Micro-Flow Imaging

In this final post of our biologics blog series, bioassay scientists will construct a guide to the components of micro-flow imaging: imaging, counting and sorting, plus sample requirements.

Imaging
Micro-Flow Imaging™, or MFI, couples microfluidics with digital microscopic imaging to determine particle size and concentration in biologics and injectables. The concept of Micro-Flow Imaging is very simple. If a particle moves through the flow cell, the particle is imaged and counted. The principles of flow cytometry, microfluidics, microscopy and digital imaging are combined into one instrument.

Sub-visible particles can be unintentionally present in parenterals as a byproduct of drug formulation and manufacturing. This type of analysis allows for the visual assessment of the types of particles present in a solution. Particles that can be present in biopharmaceutical preparations are silicone oil, air bubbles, protein aggregates, rubber pieces from closures and glass shards.

Part Two: Cell-Based Bioassays

In part one of this biologics series, leading Alcami experts established the biologic challenges resulting from residual DNA. In this second part, we will build upon the fundamentals of bioassays.

Biological assays (bioassays) use biological substrates and entities to determine the critical quality attributes of a drug product. These applications are suitable to both small molecules and large molecules (i.e., biologics). While these assays typically exhibit more variability than chemical-based assays, bioassays provide vital tools in the assessment of product toxicity and potency.