{"id":4644,"date":"2024-03-12T20:23:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T20:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/?p=4644"},"modified":"2025-03-11T09:37:48","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T13:37:48","slug":"solid-foundations-for-world-changing-medicines-and-vaccines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/Q1\/solid-foundations-for-world-changing-medicines-and-vaccines","title":{"rendered":"Solid foundations for world-changing medicines and vaccines"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"purdue-initial-words-wrap\"><p class=\"purdue-initial-words wp-block-paragraph\">WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. &mdash;<\/p> \n<p>Pharmaceuticals are an important foundation of modern health and society. Without vaccines, medications and therapeutics, civilization as we know it would break down. And without careful formulation and storage, the pharmaceuticals themselves can break down and decay into uselessness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Understanding and preventing that decay is the focus of Purdue scientist Elizabeth Topp\u2019s career.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Topp, a professor in the Department of Industrial and Molecular Pharmaceutics and the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, as well as the director of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/science\/research-groups\/amp\/index.html\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">William D. and Sherry L. Young Advanced Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals Institute<\/a>, is an expert on an unusual aspect of chemistry: solids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The word \u201cchemistry\u201d may conjure up images of scientists swirling fluids together in a beaker, mixing them to form something new. But chemistry is not limited to liquid or gaseous states. Solids also undergo chemical reactions and change over time. Knowledge of that process is vital to understanding the way medication moves through the human body and how it should be stored.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n    <div  class=\"purdue-home-quick-links-static \">\n        <div class=\"tagged-header-container\">\n\n            <h2 class=\"tagged-header\"><span>Additional Information<\/span><\/h2>\n        \n        <\/div>\n\n       <ul class=\"quick-links-content\">\n                                        <li class=\"quick-link__item\">\n                                                                <a class=\"quick-link__link\"\n                                    href=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/research\/features\/stories\/topp-named-to-lead-institute-for-advanced-pharmaceutical-manufacturing-at-purdue\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n                                    Topp named to lead institute for advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing at Purdue                                <\/a>\n                            <\/li>\n                                                <li class=\"quick-link__item\">\n                                                                <a class=\"quick-link__link\"\n                                    href=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/releases\/2023\/Q3\/purdue-ireland-relationship-fosters-research-and-study-abroad-opportunities-in-pharmaceutical-manufacturing.html\" target=\"_blank\">\n                                    Purdue-Ireland relationship fosters research and study abroad opportunities in pharmaceutical manufacturing                                <\/a>\n                            <\/li>\n                                                <li class=\"quick-link__item\">\n                                                                <a class=\"quick-link__link\"\n                                    href=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/releases\/2023\/Q3\/purdues-inaugural-lilly-scholars-train-to-become-pharmaceutical-manufacturing-workforce-leaders-of-the-future.html\" target=\"_blank\">\n                                    Purdue\u2019s inaugural Lilly Scholars train to become pharmaceutical manufacturing workforce talent of the future                                <\/a>\n                            <\/li>\n                            <\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI get to do chemistry in this unusual state of matter,\u201d Topp said. \u201cNot many scientists do chemistry in solids. I\u2019m interested in how reactions happen in the amorphous solid state, how we can understand and use those interactions to make better and more stable drug products.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many drug products are solids for most of their existence, from the conclusion of manufacturing, through their time on the shelf, which can last several years, right up until they enter a patient\u2019s body. Understanding chemical degradation in the solid state helps ensure that the drug is intact when it reaches the patient. Keeping drugs in a solid state is useful; molecules move more slowly in solids than in liquids or gases, which slows down most types of degradation. The absence of water in a solid powder can be enough to slow down or even eliminate degradation, because many chemical reactions involved in breaking down drug components require water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) has been used for some of the most revolutionary recent drug developments, including the first COVID-19 vaccines. But mRNA breaks down very easily, so careful handling is required. Deeper understanding of that decay can keep drugs and vaccines stable longer, enabling them to reach and help more people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you look at the structure of mRNA, it\u2019s set up to fall apart,\u201d Topp said. \u201cWhen we\u2019re trying to use it for things like vaccines and pharmaceuticals, we have to figure out how to keep that from happening from the end of vaccine manufacturing until it\u2019s given to the patient. The current COVID mRNA vaccines are frozen solids \u2014 essentially ice kept at very low temperatures. My collaborators and I are exploring other types of solids that might not need such low temperatures. We\u2019re also looking at ways to temporarily change the mRNA chemical structure to keep it from degrading in the vial, then have it revert to its native form in the body.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In substances that rely on mRNA, like vaccines, scientists have discovered that the sensitive mRNA molecules must be encased in a fatty coating called a lipid nanoparticle to enter cells. Like an eggshell around an egg, these lipid nanoparticles help protect the mRNA and enable it to enter the patient\u2019s cells. The lipid nanoparticles begin to break down and release mRNA. Like the fats in milk, which are solids but too small to see individually, the vaccine consists of thousands of these tiny lipid balls that protect and deliver the mRNA payload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The breakdown of lipid nanoparticles can also occur as mRNA-based drugs are shipped around the world. The exposed mRNA breaks down more rapidly, and both the lipid nanoparticles and their mRNA payload are compromised. If both aren\u2019t intact, the vaccine won\u2019t work. &nbsp;Controlling how those chemical and physical changes occur, and when, is the art of drug stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m asked all the time, \u2018Why don\u2019t we make drug molecules that don\u2019t fall apart?\u2019\u201d Topp said. \u201cWell, we do have those. They\u2019re forever molecules, like DDT, and they\u2019re often harmful. We really want pharmaceuticals to fall apart and biodegrade eventually. We don\u2019t want them to live in our cells and tissues forever. We want them to do their job and then go away \u2014 to be metabolized and excreted from the body, and then to degrade to harmless byproducts in the environment. To me, pharmaceuticals are interesting in part because they\u2019re transient, unstable. If a flower lasts forever, it\u2019s plastic. Something about the beauty of the actual flower has been lost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Drugs are not magic. Simply assembling the correct active ingredients in a drug isn\u2019t enough. Delivering the drug, intact and functional, to the correct site in the body at the right time is vital to treating patients and preventing disease.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen you\u2019re talking about drug formulations and drug products, the drug molecule is like the diva in an opera,\u201d Topp said. \u201cYou have to keep her happy. If she\u2019s not happy, it doesn\u2019t matter what else you do. She\u2019s not going to sing for you.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This work is part of Purdue\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/onehealth\/\">One Health<\/a>\u00a0initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About Purdue University&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue\u2019s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap \u2014 including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, and Purdue Computes \u2014 at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/president\/strategic-initiatives\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/president\/strategic-initiatives<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. &mdash; Pharmaceuticals are an important foundation of modern health and society. Without vaccines, medications and therapeutics, civilization as we know it would break down. And without careful formulation and storage, the pharmaceuticals themselves can break down and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[315,7],"tags":[],"department":[],"source":[29],"purdue_today_topic":[],"coauthors":[77],"class_list":["post-4644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-one-health","category-research-excellence","source-purdue-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4644"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12705,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4644\/revisions\/12705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4644"},{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=4644"},{"taxonomy":"source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/source?post=4644"},{"taxonomy":"purdue_today_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/purdue_today_topic?post=4644"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}