Incorporated Drug Factories: The Future of Inquiring Medicine

The human body producing its own medicine on demand sounds like science fiction. Instead, researchers like Jonathan Rivnay of Northwestern Engineering are working today to make that technology a reality, and soon.

Rivnay and colleagues Paul E. Sheehan and Omid Veiseh wrote about this emerging treatment in an explanatory article titled “Are Implantable, Living Pharmacies Within Reach?” published on October 17 in the newspaper Science.

“Imagine combining a cell’s DNA (to perform new functions or modify existing ones) and bioelectronics (electrical control of bodily functions) in ways that make it easier to hear, act and wireless communication to control the production of the drug in the patient,” the team wrote. “This biohybrid concept could be revolutionary, significantly reducing production costs, thereby improving patient access and adherence to treatment, and ultimately, health outcomes.”

Rivnay is a professor of biomedical engineering and of materials science and engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering. His research group engineers organic (polymeric) and bioelectronic biohybrid materials, devices, and systems to interface between the complex world of biology and traditional optoelectronics. For the past five years, Rivnay and colleagues have been working on these ideas, with funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency, ARPA-H, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Sheehan is the program director, sustainable methods of ARPA-H; and Veiseh is a professor of bioengineering at Rice University.

Below are three key takeaways from the group’s paper.

Biologic drugs are helpful, but can be improved

Biologic drugs – treatments derived from living organisms – have been beneficial to patients since the turn of the century. According to the definition, about 330 biologic drugs have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, including the treatment of autoimmune diseases, cancer and many others. The size of the global drug market is estimated at $510 million and is expected to jump to $1.3 trillion by 2033.

However, that does not mean that these drugs are perfect.

Biological treatment is expensive due to production costs, including stabilization, purification, packaging and marketing. Their ability is also reduced when the patient’s immune system reacts to altered biologics or changes in the disease, which increases the long-term costs for the patient as the disease needs control. Cell-based therapies have been developed to address many of these problems, where engineered cells are used by factories that produce drugs in the body. Such methods would provide continuous treatment as long as the cells are active in the body. Although some treatments can be implemented without dose control, many treatments require control.

Bioelectronics could be a solution, Rivnay and his colleagues wrote, because they could implement control algorithms for operation or simulation. Small electronics have been adapted for wearable and implantable settings to work with the heart, ears, and even the brain. Current systems even implement electronic control of drug pumps using continuous commercial monitors to manage Type I diabetes.

However, the ability to have real-time glycemic control for diabetics – without devices attached to their bodies – can be amazing.

“The next frontier of biohybrid systems is to improve and better integrate cell and electronic devices so that biologic production in vivo can be sustained for long periods of time and can occur on demand,” the authors wrote. “Here, the main goal is to create genetic circuits that turn on or off drug synthesis when the cells are activated by electricity, eyes, or even mechanical stimulation.”