The evolution of biologics in the context of oncological therapy

Abstract

Progress in the field of pharmacy, closely related with the mutual stimulation of natural sciences and new technologies available to researchers, has been so rapid over the last few decades that it has begun to cause problems at the level of definitions and classifications. This phenomenon refers also to the term of biologics or, more widely, to biopharmaceuticals (in Polish terminology). The first associations with the above terms lead our thoughts to recombinant proteins, such as insulin used in the treatment of diabetes or monoclonal antibodies with wide, in terms of therapeutic areas, applications. It is generally believed that the above category of drugs is not associated with preparations invented long before the discovery of nucleic acids, let alone before the invention of an ordinary bulb. Importantly, the connotation of the term biopharmaceuticals is undergoing a very rapid reconstruction before our eyes, and the set of referents is expanding with newer, previously unknown types of therapies. Technological progress is one of the driving forces of these changes. Unmet medical needs, including the ones in the area of oncology, constitute another driving force.