Arbeiten aus dem Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (Bundesinstitut fur Impfstoffe und biomedizinische Arzneimittel) Langen/Hessen最新文献

Allergen specific immunotherapy has traditionally been viewed as a treatment for established atopic disease. The disease target of choice has principally been allergic rhinitis, and in contrast there has been widespread reluctance in sectors of the clinical community to extend this approach to treatment of atopic asthma. However as understanding of the underlying pathogenic mechanisms which drive asthma aetiology and pathogenesis increases, the rationales for considering immunotherapy in this treatment context are expanding, particularly in relation to primary and secondary prevention of asthma in childhood. This brief review highlights recent development relating to this issue.

Allergens and allergoids can be characterized by means of physicochemical methods, resulting in a description of the protein on different structural levels. Several techniques are available and their suitability depends on the composition of the particular sample. Current European legislation on allergen products demands characterization of final products in particular focusing on identity, degree of modification (for allergoids) and stability of the composition. Structural parameters of allergens may be used to investigate the stability of an allergen product. The challenge is to identify and optimize techniques that allow determination of protein structure in the context of a formulated pharmaceutical product. As the majority of the products currently marketed are formulated with aluminium hydroxide or aluminium phosphate as a depot, most of the methods and techniques used for protein characterization in solution are not applicable. An additional hurdle is that allergen products are based on natural extracts, comprising a mixture of proteins, both allergens and non-allergens, sometimes in the presence of other uncharacterized components from the raw material. This paper describes which methods are suitable for the different stages of allergen product manufacturing, and how these relate to the current regulatory requirements. Some of the techniques are demonstrated using a model allergen, cod parvalbumin, and a chemically modified form thereof. We conclude that a variety of methods is available for characterization of proteins in solution, and that a limited number of techniques appear to be suitable for modified allergens (allergoids). Adaptation of existing methods, e.g. mass spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy may be helpful to obtain protein parameters of allergens in a formulated allergen product. By choosing a combination of techniques, including those additional to physicochemical approaches, relevant parameters of allergens in formulated allergen products can be assessed in order to achieve a well-characterized pharmaceutical product.

Since introduction of the EU Paediatric Regulation in January 2007 the development and the life cycle of a drug in pre- and post-authorisation period has changed significantly. Pharmacovigilance science has traditionally been a discipline focussed on the post-marketing or post-authorisation period, with due attention directed towards pre-clinical safety data, clinical trials and adverse events. As the biological sciences have evolved, pharmacovigilance has slowly shifted toward earlier, proactive consideration of risks and potential benefits of drugs in the pre- and post-approval stages of drug development, leading to a maturing of drug safety risk management. The development of drugs for the paediatric population has changed the awareness that not only the safety issues need to be thoroughly investigated for a safe treatment of the children. In conjunction with the knowledge about efficacy, pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic and the age appropriate formulation for the concerned drug, the impact on the aim to apply safe medicines for children will steadily increase. Therefore, a proposal for a joint effort performing clinical research and appropriate drug development and clinical trials in children needs a strong support from a number of stakeholders like Clinical Trial Network, Paediatric Society, pharmaceutical industry and authorities.