THz-TDS: a new insight into protein solution formulation

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The treatment of some chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis sometimes requires more than a typical tablet or ‘pill’ can deliver. A new generation of so-called ‘biopharmaceutical’ medicines includes substances which cannot be swallowed because they are destroyed in the stomach. These include ‘monoclonal antibodies’, or mAbs, which are injected subcutaneously (just below the skin). The preference is for near painless injections through a narrow bore needle. This demands that the industry make concentrated doses in small volumes, retaining low viscosity to allow injection. We need to better understand the phenomenon by which an increase in concentration is sometimes related to unacceptable increases in viscosity. The project team from MedImmune, TeraView and the Universities of Cambridge and Sheffield will develop a new analytical technique using Terahertz radiation, which lies between infrared and microwave radiation. Using this new technique we will improve our understanding of the manner in which mAbs interact with each other in high concentration solutions, and in doing so be able to make better medicines.