Different techniques have been developed to extend serum half-life of protein therapeutics, but these have not offered the flexibility to adjust the drug’s half-life to suit specific patient needs. Now Novozymes believes that albumin fusion technology is set to change that by allowing flexible control of the half-life of biologicals.
Rising healthcare costs are putting pressure on researchers to create more effective, tailored drugs. At the same time, pharmaceutical companies are increasingly finding it a challenge to take drugs through clinical trials. In response, researchers are investing in the development of biological drugs that take a much more targeted approach.
A common problem when using biological drugs is that they can have short plasma half-lives, which can result in reduced bioavailability because the human body clears the drug in as little as seconds. As a consequence, patients suffering from chronic conditions require larger and more frequent dosages of medication, which can lead to greater incidence of side-effects, reduced patient compliance and increased healthcare costs.
To address these issues, there has been a focus on developing technologies that can extend serum half-life of protein-based therapeutics. The most common methods currently being employed are those that increase hydrodynamic volume (PEGylation) or those that use FcRn-mediated recycling (albumin fusions).