Innovative analytical technologies for biopharmaceuticals

The Dutch Foundation for Technical Sciences (STW) has granted about EUR 1.5 million to the following groups: Analytical Biochemistry at the University of Groningen (Prof. R. Bischoff), Biomedical Analysis at Utrecht University (Prof. G.J. de Jong) and Biomolecular Analysis at the VU University Amsterdam (Prof. H. Irth and Prof. W.M.A. Niessen). They will be cooperating in this project with Prof. W.J. Quax (Pharmaceutical Biology, University of Groningen) and Prof. M.J. Smit (Receptor Biochemistry and Medicinal Chemistry, VU). Moreover, different companies will support this project with a total contribution of about  EUR 0.8 million.

The development of biopharmaceuticals (pharmaceutical proteins) is crucial for the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry as breakthroughs are expected from these types of products. Insulin is the most well-known pharmaceutical protein and has been used successfully for many years. Monoclonal antibodies, which are also produced in cell cultures, are particularly promising for the treatment of certain forms of cancer. Other modern biopharmaceuticals are human growth hormone and cytokines such as interferons. These proteins have very complex structures and require new technologies for their analysis. This collaborative project aims at developing such techniques for the screening of new receptor agonists and antagonists, for the analysis of biological samples to study the fate of biopharmaceuticals in the body and for the characterization of pharmaceutical proteins (heterogeneity, impurities, and degradation products). The consortium combines extensive expertise in these fields and has advanced equipment at its disposal to use in this project. Moreover, new technologies and systems will be developed and applied. Funding was approved because the application combines scientific novelty with extensive potential for real-life applications and both these aspects were considered to be excellent.