University of Delaware Provost Robin Morgan (far left) and Delaware Biotechnology Institute Director John Koh (far right) and other the speakers at the recent biopharmaceutical symposium at UD’s STAR Campus.
Thought leaders explore emerging area of biotherapeutics
The tremendous potential of the emerging class of medicines known as biotherapeutics — medicines produced from living cells — is exciting new terrain for researchers, industry and health care professionals.
Getting new drugs from the lab to the market remains a significant challenge, however. The discovery is difficult because, despite new biological insights and technological advances, the mechanisms of disease are still poorly understood. The delivery is formidable because complex diseases often require complex therapies. They must be effective, affordable to patients and a worthwhile investment for manufacturers.
Ensuring safe, reliable manufacturing is a big problem that drives the high cost of these therapies.