Biology - 6 Preventing and Treating Disease - 6.4 Developing Drugs & 6.5 Making Monoclonal Antibodies & 6.6 Uses of Monoclonal Antibodies

A good medicine is [4]:

- effective
- safe
- stable
- successfully taken into and removed from your body

Preclinical testing

drug tests carried out in a laboratory on cells, tissues and live animals

Clinical trials

experiments that study the effectiveness of medical treatments on actual patients

Double blind trials

the doctors and volunteers both don't know who has the placebo and who has the drug

Placebo

a fake drug used in the testing of medication

How many compounds at drug discovery?

5000-10000

How many compounds at preclinical trials?

10-20

How many compounds at phase 1 clinical trials?

5-10

How many compounds at phase 2 clinical trials?

2-5

How many compounds at phase 3 clinical trials?

1-2

Publishing results

results of drug trials are published and reviewed under scrutiny

Hybridoma

cell that is the result of fusion of a tumour cell with a lymphocyte cell

Monoclonal antibody

antibody produced in a laboratory to attack specific antigens

How are monoclonal antibodies made? [4]

- mouse lymphocytes and tumour cells are combined
- these create hybridomas (divide and produce antibodies)
- hybridomas produce monoclonal antibodies
- they are collected and purified

Monoclonal antibodies only...

bind to one specific antigen

Uses of monoclonal antibodies [5]

- pregnancy test
- diagnosis of disease
- measuring and monitoring
- research
- treating disease

What hormone do pregnancy tests detect?

human chlorionic gonadotropin (HCG)

How can monoclonal antibodies be used to diagnose disease?

markers are attached to them and they bind to the pathogens/blood clots/cancers

How can monoclonal antibodies be used for measuring and monitoring? [3]

- screening blood for HIV
- detecting drugs used illegally by athletes
- detecting infections such as syphilis

How can monoclonal antibodies be used for research?

attaching phosphorescent particles to the antibodies and seeing where they build up in a cell or tissue

How can monoclonal antibodies be used to treat cancer? [3]

- direct use to trigger the immune system to attack cancer cells
- blocking receptors on the cancer cells to stop them growing and dividing
- carry toxic drugs, radioactive substances and chemicals that stop cells growing and dividing

Advantages of monoclonal antibodies [3]:

- only bind to specific diseased or damaged cells
- do not affect healthy cells
- specificity means they could treat a wide range of conditions

Disadvantages of monoclonal antibodies [4]:

- expensive to develop
- more side effects than expected
- immune response due to mouse cells
- difficult to produce