Ian Wark Research Institute
ARC Special Research Centre
ARC Special Research Centre
Research Area: Biopharmaceuticals
Supervisors:
Prof Clive Prestidge,
Dr Benjamin Thierry, Dr Kristen Bremmell (School of Pharmacy) and Dr
Tim Barnes (School of Pharmacy)
Description: How does the formulation of biopharmaceuticals
control their aggregation and adsorption? Biopharmaceuticals are an
important class of therapeutic drugs. Their structure is highly
sensitive to the local environment, where denaturing, aggregation and
adsorption to container walls may occur. As even minor structural
changes can alter protein functionality, biopharmaceutical product
formulation is critical to maintain the native protein structure and
functionality. Additionally, such sensitivity has severe implications on
quality control in manufacturing and purification processes inducing
undesirable effects.
The impact of different aspects of solution formulation on protein aggregation behaviour and their interaction with surfaces will be studied in this project for application in bio-pharmaceutical purification and their use in drug delivery. The follow experimental techniques will be considered for use: Quartz crystal microbalance, isothermal calorimetry, atomic force microscopy, circular dichroism, dynamic light scattering and zeta potential.
