New ways to make pharmaceuticals

Synthetic biology

Synthetic biology is a broad field of research, but relevant to the pharmaceutical industry is the adaptation of microorganisms to produce useful medicinal products, or the chemical precursors to potential active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Synthetic biology can also fast-track drug discovery. Mimicking the principle of electronic circuits, synthetic biological circuits can be designed, and enhanced with in vivo directed evolution to produce enzymes capable of catalysing new chemical transformations for drug diversification purposes. Moreover, synthetic biology contributes to bulk API production by engineering whole pathways for biosynthetic production (Shapira et al., 2017; David et al., 2021).  

While engineered enzymes are currently utilised in discrete steps of API manufacturing, the field continues to explore avenues for enhancing efficiency and sustainability. Additionally, the convergence of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning with synthetic biology and chemistry holds promise for further accelerating drug discovery processes, representing a new frontier where interdisciplinary collaboration drives innovation (David et al., 2021).