Stabilization of Biopharmaceuticals in Single Crystal Hosts

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Professor Bart Kahr, of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Washington, is supported by the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate through a Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaisons with Industry (GOALI) award for his studies of the stabilization of biopharmaceuticals in single crystal hosts. Through exploration of the host/guest chemistry of single crystals of known biopharmaceuticals and excipients and the single crystal matrix isolation of biopolymers in hydrogen-bonded molecular crystals, Professor Kahr and co-Principal Investigators Jean Chmielewski, of Purdue University, and Jerry Lewis, of Eli Lilly, are developing methods for the stabilization toward light, heat, and moisture of various peptidic pharmaceuticals, including glucagon and human growth hormone. The stability of the mixed crystals and the activity of the biopharmaceuticals upon release from their crystal hosts will be explored through a variety of physical and biological assays. In part due to the emergence of recombinant DNA technologies, a number of biopharmaceutical agents are appearing. These drugs, often comprised of polypeptides (proteins), generally display poorer stability toward ambient conditions of light, temperature, and humidity than do typical small-molecule drugs, and development of methods for their stabilization beyond storage at low temperature, which is not always practically feasible, are required. Through a Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaisons with Industry (GOALI) award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate support Professor Bart Kahr, of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Washington, for his studies of the inclusion of biopharmaceutical agents within single crystal `hosts.` Professor Kahr's studies are focused on the ability of biopolymers, including human growth hormone, to crystallize within the crystal lattice of various pharmaceutical `excipients` and on the effects of this incorporation on the thermal, light, and moisture stability of these biopolymers.