Project description:Interest and research in biologic approaches for tissue healing are exponentially growing for a variety of musculoskeletal conditions. The recent hype concerning musculoskeletal biological therapies (including viscosupplementation, platelet-rich plasma, and cellular therapies, or "stem cells") is driven by several factors, including demand by patients promising regenerative evidence supported by substantial basic and translational work, as well as commercial endeavors that complicate the scientific and lay understanding of biological therapy outcomes. While significant improvements have been made in the field, further basic and preclinical research and well-designed randomized clinical trials are needed to better elucidate the optimal indications, processing techniques, delivery, and outcome assessment. Furthermore, biologic treatments may have potential devastating complications when proper methods or techniques are ignored. For these reasons, an association comprising several scientific societies, named the Biologic Association (BA), was created to foster coordinated efforts and speak with a unified voice, advocating for the responsible use of biologics in the musculoskeletal environment in clinical practice, spearheading the development of standards for treatment and outcomes assessment, and reporting on the safety and efficacy of biologic interventions. This article will introduce the BA and its purpose, provide a summary of the 2020 first annual Biologic Association Summit, and outline the future strategic plan for the BA.
Project description:The 2nd Annual Antibodies for Cancer Therapy symposium, organized again by Cambridge Healthtech Institute as part of the Protein Engineering Summit, was held in Boston, USA from April 30th to May 1st, 2012. Since the approval of the first cancer antibody therapeutic, rituximab, fifteen years ago, eleven have been approved for cancer therapy, although one, gemtuzumab ozogamicin, was withdrawn from the market. The first day of the symposium started with a historical review of early work for lymphomas and leukemias and the evolution from murine to human antibodies. The symposium discussed the current status and future perspectives of therapeutic antibodies in the biology of immunoglobulin, emerging research on biosimilars and biobetters, and engineering bispecific antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates. The tumor penetration session was focused on the understanding of antibody therapy using ex vivo tumor spheroids and the development of novel agents targeting epithelial junctions in solid tumors. The second day of the symposium discussed the development of new generation recombinant immunotoxins with low immunogenicity, construction of chimeric antigen receptors, and the proof-of-concept of 'photoimmunotherapy'. The preclinical and clinical session presented antibodies targeting Notch signaling and chemokine receptors. Finally, the symposium discussed emerging technologies and platforms for therapeutic antibody discovery.