by Stacey Hawkins | May 25, 2020 | Drug Discovery
When popping a pill, how often do we think about what happens next—to the pill, or to our bodies? Maybe we assume the body welcomes any extra help to soothe our headache or control our blood pressure. This WEEKLY looks into the mystery of what comes after the swallow.... 
by Stacey Hawkins | Feb 24, 2020 | Drug Discovery
Cells are the basic structural and functional unit of all organisms. Without them, drug development would be stuck in the bad old days before antibiotics. Researchers need squillions of these membrane-bound bundles of molecules to develop new medicines and to make... 
by Stacey Hawkins | Jan 15, 2020 | Groundbreaking New Therapies in Development
Exosomes: Bio-trash to Bio-treasure We’ve all heard the phrase “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” It turns out that what often holds true for the antique business sometimes holds true for biotech as well. This WEEKLY shows how. Term of the Week: Exosome... 
by Stacey Hawkins | Jan 6, 2020 | Groundbreaking New Therapies in Development
Proteasomes to the Rescue Many drugs work by stopping overactive proteins that cause disease. The leukemia drug Gleevec, for example, is a small-molecule inhibitor (antagonist) of the protein Bcr-Abl, whose overactivity promotes excessive cell division. Humira... 
by Stacey Hawkins | Sep 3, 2019 | Clinical Trials
Pharma Finish Line: FDA Approval Last week, we focused on the final stage of clinical testing, Phase III trials, where drug developers assess the safety and efficacy of their drug in large patient groups. At the end of Phase III, drug developers face the moment of... 
by Stacey Hawkins | Aug 25, 2019 | Clinical Trials
Phase III Is No Guarantee Our last Biotech Primer WEEKLY explored the riskiest part of the human clinical trials pathway: Phase II. About 70% of drugs that enter Phase II never make it out. Most often, it’s because they fail to demonstrate effectiveness. Even making...
