Drug Solutions Podcast: Drug Delivery Systems: Optimer’s Therapeutic Targeting and Scaling Capabilities vs. ADCs

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An expert from Aptamer Group reveals the potential of Optimers (a type of aptamer) in the realm of drug delivery, including its targeting capabilities, scalability, and key differences between Optimers and antibody-drug conjugates.

Drug delivery has grown in leaps and bounds in recent decades, including growth in administration methods, therapeutic formulation, and delivery systems. David Bunka, chief technical officer, Aptamer Group, joins Meg Rivers, senior editor, for a deep dive into Optimers (optimized aptamers). Bunka discusses some of the key differences between Optimer-drug conjugates and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), such as their properties, how they are created, and potential immune responses. He also shares how Optimers can target malignant cells withoutprior knowledge of specific biomarkers, the scalability capabilities of Optimers due to their chemistry/being synthetically manufactured, and what long-term safety could look like.


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About the speakers

David Bunka, chief technical officer and co-founder of Aptamer Group, holds a PhD in molecular biology and has spent nearly 20 years developing nucleic acid aptamers against a wide variety of targets including small molecules (i.e., antibiotics, food contaminants, chemotherapeutics), disease-associated proteins, several cancer-associated cell-lines, viruses, and tissue biopsies. This work has been facilitated using high-throughput, automated aptamer selection methods. Bunka has built up an established international reputation in the field and has authored several peer-reviewed research articles, invited review articles, and a book chapter on aptamer-based therapeutics. He has also given many guest seminars covering aptamer-based applications at top universities and international conferences.


About the Drug Solutions Podcast

Pharmaceutical Technology presents the Drug Solutions podcast, where the editors will chat with industry experts from across the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical supply chain. Join us as experts share insights into your biggest questions—from the technologies, to strategies, to regulations related to the development and manufacture of drug products.

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