I love small molecules.
They are well-defined, they are stable, they are easy to deliver to patients, and are reliable all around.
The pharma industry obviously shares this enthusiasm, as companies would much rather develop small molecules than go through the pains of developing biologicals.
But what can we do… science has shown us over the years just how much more we can achieve with biological products - from the recombinant proteins, monoclonal antibodies, and viral vectors all the way to the craziest cell therapies- our bodies are complex machines, and biologicals can press many more buttons, in delicate and precise ways, unimaginable until not long ago...
It took us a while to figure out how to make these products but today we have quite solid technologies. We can make kilograms of recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies, but we have a long way to go with the more advanced therapies.
When your product is a living cell, small molecules seem like a faraway daydream. These products are complex snowflakes, unstable to the level of hours sometimes, hard to deliver, and capricious overall.
But... every day that passes, we gain more knowledge and turn
Science-fiction to Science
Science to Technology
and Technology to products.
At the end of this chain, there are fellow Humans, eagerly waiting for their cure. To them I say- hang in there- we are on it!