BIOLOGICS

BIOLOGICS

Subject: Science & tech

Context: A nano particle designed by researchers from University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in the U.S., offers a new, potentially revolutionary approach to treating diseases.

Concept:

• The new concept, Protein–Antibody Conjugates or PACs, combines two different approaches to drug delivery.
• One is biologics, where the idea is to target a defective protein in the system by delivering proteins to it. An example of this is the case of insulin treatment. If a person is short of insulin, which is a protein, they are given a shot of this to balance the system.
• The other approach is to use antibodies for drug delivery. Antibodies are something the body produces to detect a foreign substance inside the body.
• Protein–antibody conjugates or PACs, developed by the group, which have a protein attached to the antibody, can zero in on, say, pancreatic cancer cells.
• This could have impact on incurable diseases, so-called undruggable ones like pancreatic cancer.