Sarantos Kyriakopoulos

Publications (2)10.43 Total impact

• Article: Analysis of the landscape of biologically-derived pharmaceuticals in Europe: dominant production systems, molecule types on the rise and approval trends.

  Sarantos Kyriakopoulos, Cleo Kontoravdi
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  ABSTRACT: A thorough sort of the human drugs approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) between its establishment in 1995 until June 2012 is presented herein with a focus on biologically-derived pharmaceuticals. Over 200 (33%) of the 640 approved therapeutic drugs are derived from natural sources, produced via recombinant DNA technology, or generated through virus propagation. A breakdown based on production method, type of molecule and therapeutic category is presented. Current EMA approvals demonstrate that mammalian cells are the only choice for glycoprotein drugs, with Chinese hamster ovary cells being the dominant hosts for their production. On the other hand, bacterial cells and specifically Escherichia coli are the dominant hosts for protein-based drugs, followed by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The latter is the dominant host for recombinant vaccine production, although egg-based production is still the main platform of vaccine provision. Our findings suggest that the majority of biologically-derived drugs are prescribed for cancer and related conditions, as well as the treatment of diabetes. The approval rate for biologically-derived drugs shows a strong upward trend for monoclonal antibodies and fusion proteins since 2009, while hormones, antibodies and growth factors remain the most populous categories. Despite a clear pathway for the approval of biosimilars set by the EMA and their potential to drive sales growth, we have only found approved biosimilars for three molecules. In 2012 there appears to be a slow-down in approvals, which coincides with a reported decline in the growth rate of biologics sales.
  European journal of pharmaceutical sciences: official journal of the European Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences 12/2012; · 2.61 Impact Factor
• Article: Metabolic network reconstruction: advances in in silico interpretation of analytical information.

  Ning Chen, Ioscani Jimenez del Val, Sarantos Kyriakopoulos, Karen M Polizzi, Cleo Kontoravdi
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  ABSTRACT: Mathematical modelling is a powerful tool for the organisation and analysis of biological data. Both stoichiometric and kinetic models have been applied to the investigation of cellular metabolism in a variety of bacterial, yeast and mammalian hosts to elucidate metabolic network structure, optimise fermentation conditions and improve genetic engineering strategies among others. The current challenge is to interrelate different levels of information, from the genome to the transcriptome, the proteome and the metabolome, and experimental data from widely used high-throughput techniques to recreate a given phenotype and ultimately to make predictions about network and cellular behaviour.
  Current opinion in biotechnology 11/2011; 23(1):77-82. · 7.82 Impact Factor