Education
New online course Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
This online course aims to provide an overview of all aspects of pharmaceutical biotechnology for those with a biomedical or pharmaceutical background who want to learn more about this topic.
The course starts with the introduction of several biopharmaceutical products (BPs) that are currently on the market and then describes how the drug substances present in these products were actually obtained and produced by means of living cells. Topics such as gene cloning, cell line development, bioprocessing, and downstream purification methods will be discussed as well as formulation and delivery issues of recombinant proteins and nucleic acids. Furthermore, attention will be given to the registration process of BPs as well as to the cost-benefit analysis and the socio-economic impact these often pricy drugs might have.
Elevate Health and the University of Utrecht work jointly in offering this online course on Pharmaceutical Biotechnology. Development of this course was generously supported by the EU Lifelong Learning Programme in the project ‘Competences for industrial pharmacy practice in biotechnology – PHAR-IN’ (grant nr. 538252-LLP-1-2013-1-BE-ERASMUS-EKA).
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Sum up the main milestones in the history of biotechnology and pharmaceutical biotechnology in particular
- Distinguish different categories of biopharmaceutical products (BPs)
- Analyse and explain the structural organisation of BPs
- Set up a molecular cloning strategy for the recombinant production of therapeutic proteins in cells
- Rationally choose the appropriated host cell system for the large-scale production of protein-based BPs
- Explain the basic issues on protein stability
- Describe important techniques for and analytical challenges in protein characterisation
- Make a rational choice of the appropriate separation techniques for a given recombinant protein
- Explain the basic issues on protein stability and how this can be influenced through proper fomulation
- Explain how biopharmaceutical aspects of BPs can be influenced
- Describe the procedure for getting BPs registeredUnderstand the social, economical and ethical impact biopharmaceuticals can have on patients and the healthcare system in general