Biotechnology was founded on revolutionary technologies to make human derived biopharmaceuticals. Today, such proteins and alternative therapies like Mabs, antibody derivatives, fusion proteins and vaccines represent the fastest-growing therapeutic category. Such alternative therapies have specific challenges regarding how to make them and improve their biologic activity with improved quality, productivity and therapeutic effectiveness. Technologies to be explored include a controlled protein synthesis platform that does not require cells for protein expression; direct discovery from human blood of rare, potent antibodies; microparticlebased, broad-spectrum vaccines and immunostimulants; and an integrated system enabling rapid antibody discovery, maturation and production using a single platform.

• Identify what drug companies consider important in identifying highly promising novel drug candidates
• Describe some of the technical and development challenges making novel protein therapeutics and constructs
• Describe the features and benefits of these technologies and how they overcome the limitations of current systems