Biopharmaceutical research company MedImmune and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology are partners in a five-year research and development project to produce  new medications or therapies using biological instead of  chemical components.

MedImmune is  U.K.-based AstraZeneca PLC’s biologics research and development unit . It will provide funding for seven scientists for the first year. Each of the scientists will work on a joint MedImmune/NIST research project investigating the role of biological and chemical principles in drug development and create new measurement tools to “facilitate that knowledge” for patient benefit, according to a company statement.

Among the planned projects, MedImmune and NIST will focus on developing a new form of Raman spectroscopy to determine if the proteins used in biopharmaceuticals are folding properly and interacting with other molecules as intended.

Both MedImmune and NIST plan to publish the results upon completion of the work.

Source:  BioSpace.com