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Therapeutic Modalities of Biopharmaceuticals - BIOT7170
 Students studying

   
   
   
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Postgraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 6
 
 
EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 0
 
 
Fee Band: 5 (more info)
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
  

Description

This course provides a detailed study and analysis of the various classes of biopharmaceuticals and includes case studies of the therapeutic mode of action of selected examples.

Recombinant DNA technology has allowed the production of a wide variety of biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of human disease. There are numerous classes of biopharmaceuticals including cytokines, growth factors, clotting factors, growth hormones, enzymes, monoclonal antibodies and oligonucleotide-based compounds. Most biopharmaceuticals approved for human administration are protein-based. For example erythropoietin (EPO), a protein of the cytokine group responsible for red blood cell formation, is used therapeutically to treat anaemia.

Biopharmaceuticals are now a significant sector of the health care industry, and EPO is the world's biggest selling biopharmaceutical. Other diseases targeted with biopharmaceuticals include cancer, inflammation, heart disease, diabetes, haemophilia and various viral infections. Biopharmaceuticals are also able to treat conditions such as wound healing, infertility and growth deficiency to name but a few.

The course includes a study of the pharmacology of proteins and peptides as drugs and includes pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and metabolism. Oligonucleotides are also becoming an increasingly important class of biopharmaceuticals, and the mode of action of aptamers, ribozymes, DNAzymes, PNAs and other oligonucleotide-based biopharmaceuticals is studied.

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© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.