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A91DX-9426-A3-4A00. © Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc., 2015 You’ve decided to automate your lab, but what’s the next step? How do you find the right partner to meet your growth and productivity needs? With nearly two decades of automation experience, Siemens will work closely with your team to define and help you achieve your goals. Utilizing our Lean analysis tools and proprietary simulation models, our healthcare consultants help establish new processes, redefine workflow, and improve staff utilization. And our project management team partners with you to make sure your implementation is a success. As your long-term partner, Siemens will be there—from design and implementation to ongoing optimization of your laboratory’s performance. That’s why so many customers have trusted us for their first and replacement automation solutions. You can always expect our commitment to a seamless transition to your new solution, giving you confidence and peace of mind. And that’s the best news of all. Get more good news at siemens.com/automation-leader. siemens.com/automation-leader Good News: You’re automating your lab. Best News: We perform over 900 workflow consultations each year. Siemens Healthcare consultants ensure that your automation solution— from concept to completion—will help you deliver the outcomes you demand. 9426-A3_Automation Leadership Ad 2_210x297.indd 1 4/15/16 3:02 PM LABORATORY More effective drug delivery meets targets Biotherapeutics strike cancer cell growth Report: Mark Nicholls Many drug treatments do not work due to their poor ability to reach their intended targets inside patients’ cells. To address this, research- ers at Cardiff University’s Schools of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Biosciences have designed a highly efficient method to improve the delivery of thera- peutic molecules into diseased cells such as those in stomach cancer, breast cancer and tuberculosis,. In this new approach, called ‘receptor crosslinking’, the team specifically worked to improve the delivery of a relatively new class of drugs called biotherapeutics. The researchers explain that can- cer cells often contain a unique protein on their surface that acts as a barcode, identifying these cells as cancerous against their healthy counterparts. In their findings, they character- ised new ways of targeting breast cancer cells with Herceptin, which interacts specifically with a barcode protein called Her2 – a protein barcode widely recognised to be a major driver of cancer cell growth and division. Lead author Professor Arwyn Jones, from the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, said: ‘The striking thing is that we have tested our approach on both Her2, as well as other barcode proteins, and each one gave the same result. ‘It looks like this could be a universal strategy to increase the uptake of drugs into different kinds of cells involved in many types of diseases.’ The research team has manipu- lated how Herceptin interacts with Her2, which results in both being rapidly engulfed by the cancer cells that then proceed to destroy the protein barcode. Professor Jones: ‘The fact the same approach has worked for three very different receptors suggests that we should be looking at many different targets here, to do the same with them, spreading it away from cancer to other diseases.’ As well as different cancer types, the approach could be used to tar- get inherited genetic diseases and infectious diseases such as tuber- culosis. TB is a potential target, he explained, because it hides within macrophages (immune cells) and this delivery method might have potential to drag the drug to the inside of the macrophage ‘to hit the tuberculosis where it is hiding’. Having highlighted the ‘univer- sality of the approach’, the Jones’ team would now like to see other Arwyn T Jones is Professor of Membrane Traffic and Drug Delivery at Cardiff University’s Schools of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. He is closely involved in the school’s main research themes of experimental therapeutics & pharmaceutical sciences; and drug discovery, design and synthesis. With a major interest in cancer and cell biology, his current projects fall under the overall themes of breast cancer cell biology, drug delivery and regulation of endocytosis. These include targeting and endocytosis of plasma membrane receptors, design and characterisation of drug delivery vectors and cellular delivery of therapeutic macromolecules. researchers try it with specific anti- bodies and models on which they are working. ‘Our approach is about more effective delivery of therapeu- tics to the inside of cells,’ he said. ‘If we think of cancer, many anti- cancer antibodies have now been developed to target receptors on the plasma membrane – some loaded with anti-cancer drugs. ‘The problem lies in then get- ting the antibody to the inside of cells, as its fate and that of its drug payload is governed by the targeted receptor.’ However, he added: ‘If you can force this interaction and have the receptor and antibody driven to the inside of a cell, you have a much better chance of getting that drug to its target site.’ Still, the expert acknowledges the approach is a long way from clini- cal use, despite its wide-reaching potential, but this a critical step forward. ‘The next stage,’ Professor Jones pointed out, ‘is to understand what happens inside a cell and then design drugs that specifically target that process.’ 17 www.healthcare-in-europe.com 9426-A3_Automation Leadership Ad 2_210x297.indd 14/15/163:02 PM

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