Magnets used to make Drugs Cheaper

A team from the University of Edinburgh has developed an advanced method of making protein-based drugs.

The drugs are created by growing cell cultures in the laboratory.
Magnets are being used during the manufacturing process, this new process could make cancer and arthritis drugs  much cheaper to make.

The magnets are coated with special antibodies were used to draw out dead cells. The removal of these dead cells from the culture means that the remaining cells are 100% more efficient in making the proteins used to create drugs.

Prof Chris Gregory, from Edinburgh University's Centre for Inflammation Research, said that the technique could cut the price of NHS medicines like breast cancer treatment Herceptin and arthritis drug Enbrel.

The researchers have formed a company called Immunosolv, to market the technology.

Immunosolv claim to:

• Increase confidence and reduce uncertainty in your cell preparations and cultures
• Improve viability from less than 50% to over 95%
• Save time and money
• Separate cells in minutes in their own growth medium with minimal manipulation and trauma - no generation of further dead cells!
• Column-free
• No specialist equipment required - all you need is a simple magnet
  
  

Apoptosis Clearance Technology (ACT™) permits discrimination and manipulation of dead and dying cells using antibodies and other proteins coupled to magnetic particles

Professor Gregory said that the findings could also have implications for vaccine development and stem cell research. "We are essentially mimicking what happens in the body when scavenger cells remove dead and abnormal cells," he said. "If the dead cells are not removed, then this affects how healthy cells behave. "Not only will this make the production of drugs more efficient, but it will also streamline research into new medicines which use cell culture."