Thursday, November 10, 2005
The University of Kansas has joined 11 other universities to research the drug-development process in hopes of lowering the price tag and the time involved in manufacturing drugs.
The new National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education, which formed on Nov. 3, is led by Charles Rutledge, vice president for research at Purdue University, KU alumnus and a former KU professor.
The need for cheaper and faster drug development is clear. Getting a drug to the market can take 10 to 15 years and cost as much as $2 billion, said Vadim Gurvich, assistant director of the KU Center for Drug Discovery and associate director of the Institute.
Karen Mahoney, spokesperson for the FDA, said that any changes pharmaceutical companies made to FDA-approved drugs had to be reviewed. To make a change, a company has to turn in an application explaining the changes so the FDA can see that the drug still serves its intended purpose. That process takes time.
Gurvich said the companies were afraid to make changes because the FDA process took so long. He said the only way to improve the process was for companies to work together with the FDA. He said the institute would help by making new technologies, which could translate into lower costs, available to every company.
Mahoney said the FDA intended to do away with the applications for change with the help of the institute’s research. She said she hoped the research would cut down on time.
Getting a drug to the market takes so long because pharmaceutical companies use a trial-and-error approach, Gurvich said. He said the chemical reactions used to make drugs rely on specific conditions, such as the temperature at which the drug works best.
He said the companies test a wide range of variables and needed to narrow that range to produce drugs faster.
Gurvich said the Institute hopes to change the old-fashioned approach for testing drug quality, which was to make the drug and then analyze it when it’s finished. The institute wants to find ways to analyze the drug throughout the process so the manufacturer can make changes during development.
The institute has plans to develop drug-modeling tools like those the aerospace industry uses, Gurvich said. He said aerospace scientists design planes on computers because they have tools to predict how all the parts will behave.
“Ideally, we want to learn so much about processes during manufacturing that we can model them on computers. It’s a long shot but not impossible.”
Gurvich said that would require a combination of different scientific expertise.
“Twelve universities can do this,” he said.
Rutledge said the universities would collaborate through a board of directors. Most of the funding for the institute was from Purdue, but each University involved would contribute $7,500, he said. The institute will seek federal funding it hopes will be authorized by the end of this year.
— Edited by Becca Evanhoe
Ecohawks hope to ride the wind
KU group wants to power experimental car with wind turbine
Ceremony dedicated to new addition of research ...
The new additions for SBC was introduced to the public with a ...
Boyda considers KU pharmaceuticals proposal
On Friday, the University of Kansas’ pharmaceutical program presented Representative Nancy Boyda, ...
Dirty mouth: Water may not be clean
Traces of prescription medicines and over-the-counter drugs can be found in water ...
Cancer research recruit finds a new home
Chancellor Hemenway and Peterson’s wife are excited about the move to Lawrence ...
Patents not pending for the University
Research patents are having an increase at the University and research are ...
Folmsbee: Doctors just as responsible for safe ...
Doctors should know how a valid a drug is before prescribing it.
University gets $8 million to find male ...
Alumnus discusses genes
Many students have shown their interest in using their education at the ...
University receives multi-million dollar grant
Researchers will use $20.2 million grant to do research on molecules for ...
New professor gets $5 million bioscience lab
The University contributed $5 million for the construction of a two-story research ...
University interested in fostering entrepreneurship
Julie Goonewardene will join the University on Jan. 17 after being named ...
Professors turn research into profit
Beyond tending to responsibilities of teaching at the University, some professors stay ...
Ice sheet research awarded $17.9 million
CreSIS received money to develop and continue polar ice research.
Medical researchers developing anti-virus gel
A preventative gel is being manufactured to prevent HIV and other STDs
Experts criticize diet pills searching for FDA ...
Researchers, students to develop cleaner fuel
In the future, campus buses could be powered by leftovers from the ...
Bioscience program brings businesses
The addition of a third branch of the Bioscience Technology and Business ...
Med center gets $20 million from National ...
The grant will go toward drug research in the next five years.
Chancellor expands cancer research program
New ovarian cancer drug tested
The University Cancer Center just ran a clinical trial for the breakthrough ...
Cancer drugs discovered at new lab
Better equipment helps researchers test cancer killing meds.
Biodiversity Institute receives grant
The University of Kansas’ Biodiversity Institute accepted a $850,000 grant from Microsoft ...
Evaluating presidential platforms
Obama and McCain differ on three major points during campaign.
Drug remains legal despite concerns
K2 mimics the high of marijuana and is available in Lawrence stores.
HPV vaccine approved for use in men
Watkins Health Center plans to order Human Papillomavirus vaccines for men who ...
Saha: ‘Limitless’undervalues power of human brain
'Limitless' fails to recognize the power of the natural human brain,without cognitive ...
University plans for new School of Public ...
The school would be one of around 40 public health schools in ...
Institute announces research projects
Professors and fellows will work towards commercializing medical technology and engineering projects.
Grad Check
New name, same sound
Don’t call them ‘Volunteers’ anymore. They’re ‘the Vols,’ and the Lawrence band ...
University to offer two new degrees
The KU School of Engineering is adapting to the growth in the ...
Grants fund Dyche Hall upgrades
Two awards will allow the Kansas Biodiversity Institute to make renovations to ...
University counts down to cancer center
National Cancer Institute designation could help bring top researchers to Kansas.
No more burns: FDA changes sunscreen label ...
New regulations are aimed to further promote sunscreen use.
Gross: The dark truth behind vaccines
People should consider the risks before submitting to vaccines.
Know your Student Senate candidates
Learn more about the candidates for Student Senate
Controversy surrounds cloned meat
In response to an announcement by the FDA that meat from cloned ...
The cost of school spirit: labor in ...
Labor practices behind licensed KU apparel are difficult to track, but organizations ...
University seeks students’ feedback
An electronic survey sent to randomly selected seniors and freshmen aims to ...
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
KUnited presidential candidate Libby Johnson and vice presidential ...
1 comment
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID