Recombinant protein drugs are intimately associated with the impressive success story of the Biotech Industry during the past thirty years, some of them belonging to the most successful pharmaceutical products. More than thirty different proteins are available for a variety of clinical applications, over 300 proteins are presently being evaluated in clinical trials. In this new volume of the MDT series, historical, technical and clinical aspects of recombinant protein drug discovery and development are presented, covering past, present and future highlights. Leading scientists and co-founders of early Biotech companies describe technical breakthroughs and the fascinating story of pioneering discoveries, as well as the long way of translating them into products and business. Therefore, this book represents an exciting documentation of the beginning of a new era in the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, scientists from basic research, clinic and industry actively involved in new developments discuss...

Inhalt
Pioneers and business.- Recombinant interferon the 20th anniversary.- Combining science and business: from recombinant DNA to vaccines against hepatitis B virus.- First generation proteins.- Clotting factors VIII and IX.- Colony-stimulating factors: altering the practice of oncology.- Tissue-type plasminogen activator: helping patients with acute myocardial infarction.- Proteins with new functions: protein engineering.- Designing immunocytokines: genetically engineered fusion proteins for targeted immune therapy.- Further improvement of protein drugs.- Improving protein therapeutics: the evolution of the modern pharmacopoeia.- Principles of gene transfer and foreign protein expression for human gene therapy.- Short biographies.- List of approved recombinant protein drugs.