New process creates cheaper drugs

Edinburgh, UK -- Scottish researchers say they have found a way to create cheaper drugs used to fight conditions such as cancer and arthritis.

University of Edinburgh scientists announced in a Tuesday news release that they have found a way to remove dead cells from cell cultures used to make protein-based drugs. The new process uses magnetic beads coated with special antibodies that bind to dead cells without harming the remaining healthy cells.

Another magnet is used to draw dead cells out, leaving living cells to produce beneficial proteins.

"We are essentially mimicking what happens in the body when scavenger cells remove dead and abnormal cells. If the dead cells are not removed, then this affects how healthy cells behave," Professor Chris Gregory of the University's Center for Inflammation Research said. "Not only will this make the production of drugs more efficient but it will also streamline research into new medicines which use cell culture."

Immunosolv, a spinoff company, has been formed to market the technology will support from Scottish Enterprise's Proof of Concept Program.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.