Cutting-edge research unveiled at 2015 AAPS National Biotechnology Conference

Innovative vaccine and tumor research will be unveiled at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) National Biotechnology Conference (NBC). The meeting takes place Monday, June 8- Wednesday, June 10 at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis.

This year's conference is organized into five meeting workstreams: Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) including Formulation, Characterization, Stability and Biomanufacturing; Research and Discovery; Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic (PK/PD), and Bioanalytics; Regulatory; and Biomarkers and Imaging. Submitted abstracts showcase the breadth and depth of the research being presented, as well as the global reach of AAPS. Research highlights include:

Capture of Circulating Tumor Cells with Dual Antibody-Coated Nanomaterial for Cancer Metastasis Prevention.

Nearly all cancers can form metastic tumors, according to the National Cancer Institute. Jingjing Xie, a student at Fuzhou University in Fujian, China, is working to design safe and effective antibody-coated nanomaterials for capturing and restraining the rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) for cancer metastasis prevention.

The study, for the first time, elucidates that dual antibody-coated nanomaterial can exhibit a significantly enhancedspecificity in capturing and down-regulating CTCs in the absence or presence of interfering blood cells in comparison withtheir single antibody-coated counterparts.Work is being presented June 8, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. PST.

Penfluridol Suppresses In Vivo Pancreatic Tumor Growth by Autophagy Mediated Apoptosis.

Pancreatic cancer is the most aggressive cancer characterized by metastasis progression and has developed resistance to current FDA therapies. There are estimated to be about 48,960 new cases of pancreatic cancer in 2015, and it is the fourth most common cause of death every year in the U.S.

Alok Ranjan, a graduate student at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy and his team are conducting important research using the antipsychotic drug penfluridol to suppress pancreatic tumor growth by autophagy mediated apoptosis.Work is being presented on June 10, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. PST.

Protective Immunity against Malaria after Vaccination with Mannosylated Liposomes Encapsulating Whole Parasites.

According to the CDC, there were an estimated 198 million cases of malaria worldwide and 500,000 people in 2013. While malaria is one of the oldest diseases in the world, there are no vaccines currently available. Ashwin Kumar Giddam and his team at the University of Queensland in Australia are working to provide immunity against malaria by developing a liposome vaccine formulation, which increased the survival rate of mice challenged with infectious parasites.Work is being presented June 9, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. PST.

Provided by American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists