stability

Cancer, which involves an uncontrolled increase in cell proliferation and growth, remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Our immune system tries to eliminate this excess proliferation of cells from the body. However, cancer has mechanisms that help it evade the actions of the immune system, making it very difficult to fight effectively.
New therapies and drugs are being developed to combat this disease. One such drug is nivolumab, which is used to treat lung cancer, among others. However, it has an important disadvantage in terms of its high price and its loss of efficacy in certain storage conditions or during hospital use, because of its protein nature. In this project a quantitative technique (MicroScale thermophoresis) is used to analyze the efficacy and stability of nivolumab over time and when subjected to conditions similar to those applicable during handling of the drug in hospitals.

Keywords: cancer; nivolumab; efficacy; stability; MicroScale thermophoresis

Directed by: Jesús Hermosilla Fernández

The pandemic has brought about a revolution in the field of research, especially in pharmacology. Research studies aimed at finding an effective solution against COVID-19 have increased exponentially since the start of the pandemic. Various vaccines are now on sale and have themselves become the subject of numerous research studies. These studies seek to monitor the safety, efficacy, stability, and other aspects of these drugs.

This research studies the stability of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines during distribution and handling in hospital settings to assess whether they maintain their physicochemical properties. To this end, various different stress tests are carried out on the vaccines in the laboratory. These are similar to the stresses to which the vaccines may be exposed during distribution and handling. They are also subjected to more violent stress tests, such as shaking, high temperatures, and exposure to natural or artificial light, among others so as to verify that the particulate that makes up the vaccine remains stable. The aim of this research is to find out whether we can reduce the strict measures that must be followed when distributing the vaccines and administering them to the population.

Keywords: stability; physicochemical properties; vaccines; COVID-19

Directed by: Natalia África Navas Iglesias

Quantitative stability analysis of nivolumab, an anti-tumour drug – Lorena Jiménez Morán

Do the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines remain stable after handling during administration? – Airan Braulio Alonso García