Pharmaceutical Proteins

Abstract

AbstractThere is currently great interest in pharmaceutical proteins, and work in this area, from basic research to drug marketing, is expanding vigorously. The starting points of these developments are genetic engineering and biotechnology, which contribute to the discovery of new proteins and allow them to be produced on a worthwhile scale. Ever since the commercial introduction of insulin in 1923, of thyroid hormone in 1934, of factor VIII in 1948, and of calcitonin in 1970, hormones, serum proteins, and enzymes have been firmly established as therapeutic agents. Immunomodulators and various tissue proteins are in a turbulent phase of development as a new approach to the therapy of tumors. Increasingly, diagnostic aids now take the form of enzymes and monoclonal antibodies, and recently there has even been development of vaccines based on defined single proteins and oligopeptides. Of the more than 200 pharmaceutical proteins which have been investigated to date, more than half are undergoing research and development, about 100 are in clinical trials, and a dozen or so have already been marketed. The most important indications for them are cardiovascular disorders, tumors, autoimmune diseases, and infections. Genetically engineered proteins can be used as active substances, which are chemically and biologically exactly defined, for new drug products and in research to acquire new information on therapeutic use, based on the concept of therapy with endogenous proteins. Very recent developments have shown that proteins, either in their natural form or modified, are becoming of increasing importance for research into active substances.