Pharmaceutical industry productivity has declined over the past decade as researchers have pursued more difficult-to-treat disease targets and sought ever-deeper understanding of cellular dynamics. Today, fewer than 15 percent of the drugs that enter human clinical trials are ultimately launched, according to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
     Likewise, researchers face significant challenges developing effective vaccines because of the complexities surrounding targeting and assessing immune system response.
     These are among the reasons that life sciences companies turn to BD, a leader in cell analysis, reagents, bioimaging, drug toxicity assays and laboratory consumables for drug discovery. Now, these tools are being used to improve the productivity and effectiveness of the drug and vaccine development process. This is an important goal for the pharmaceutical industry as it seeks to increase the rate at which it creates new medicines, even as these medicines become more tailored to fit the unique needs of different types of patients.
     Recent years have also seen remarkable growth in the number of successful vaccines and large molecule therapies. Often comprised of complex proteins, these biological medicines figure to play an increasingly important role in the future. In fact, biopharmaceuticals are estimated to account for nearly 15 percent of all pharmaceuticals sold today–a number projected to grow in coming years. BD flow cytometry systems and reagents enable researchers to discover and develop these large molecule therapies by helping them gain insights into how our bodies work. Then, cell culture media supplements from BD’s Advanced Bioprocessing platform improve the yield, speed, safety and performance of their production.
     The next challenge is ensuring effective delivery of therapies and vaccines to patients–a stage in the process where BD’s impact has been transformational. BD pioneered prefillable injection devices and its Pharmaceutical Systems unit is a global leader in the field. Prefilled devices offer many advantages to pharmaceutical companies, including product differentiation, higher assurance of correct dosing, sterility, ease of use, cost savings and higher reliability. More than 200 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies use BD prefillable systems.