ROLE OF BIOINFORMATICS IN PHARAMCEUTICAL

INDUSTRIES

BIOINFORMATICS : is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods

and software tools for understanding biological data.

 As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics

combines biology, computer science, information
engineering, mathematics and statistics to analyze and interpret biological data.
Bioinformatics has been used for in silico analyses of biological queries using
mathematical and statistical techniques.

 Bioinformatics includes biological studies that use computer programming as part

of their methodology, as well as a specific analysis "pipelines" that are repeatedly
used, particularly in the field of genomics.

USES OF BIOINFORMATICS :

Common uses of bioinformatics include the identification of candidates genes and

single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Often, such identification is made with the
aim of better understanding the genetic basis of disease, unique adaptations, desirable
properties (esp. in agricultural species), or differences between populations. In a less
formal way, bioinformatics also tries to understand the organisational principles
within nucleic acid and protein sequences, called proteomics.

RELATION TO OTHER FIELDS :

Bioinformatics is a science field that is similar to but distinct from biological

computation, while it is often considered synonymous to computational biology.
Biological computation uses bioengineering and biology to build
biological computers, whereas bioinformatics uses computation to better understand
biology. Bioinformatics and computational biology involve the analysis of biological
data, particularly DNA, RNA, and protein sequences. The field of bioinformatics
experienced explosive growth starting in the mid-1990s, driven largely by the Human
Genome Project and by rapid advances in DNA sequencing technology.
ROLE OF BIOINFORMATICS IN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES

Bioinformatics provides the computational support for functional genomics which

will link the behavior of cells, organism amd population to the information encoded in
the genomes, as well as structural genomics. The utility of bioinformatics lies in the
identification of useful genes leading to the development of new gene products. The
subject covers topics such as protein modeling and sequence alignment, expression
data analysis, and comparartive genomics. It combines algorithmic, statistical and
database methods for studying biological problems also.

The greatest achievement of bioinformatics methods, the Human Genome Project.

Because of this the nature and priorities of bioinformatics research and applications
are changing. Many experts believe that this will affect bioinformatics in several ways.
For instance some scientists also believe what some people refer to as research or
medical informatics, the management of all biomedical experimental data associated
with particular molecules or patients – from mass spectroscopy, to in vitro assays to
clinical side-effects-move from the concern of those working in drug company and
hospital IT (information technology) into the mainstream of cell and molecular
biology and migrate from the commercial and clinical to academic sectors.

Drug Development

Only 10% of drug molecules identified in research make it through development. This
means that many potential drugs do not make it to market, and expensive time and
resources are invested m molecules that will generate no revenue. Simulation and
informatics can significantly increase these odds by improving the efficiency of drug
development, cutting costs, and improving margins.

Formulation Design

Formulation is the process of mixing Ingredients in such a way as to produce a new or

improved product. The formulation department must balance the different marketing
and deliverability requirements with cost and chemical constraints to come up with
the best possible drug delivery method at the best price. With laboratory results stored
in legacy systems, it takes expert company knowledge and experience to know which
methods and suppliers are available, let alone to locate them quickly. In many cases
scientists find that it is easier to repeat an experiment than to find previous results.
This situation is compounded in global R&D set-ups, and after mergers and
acquisitions.

Crystallisation and Structure Determination

Determining the crystal structure of an active compound is one of the first steps in
pharmaceutical development. The crystal structure of a drug affects how easy it is to
formulate, its bio-avail- ability, and its shelf life. Knowledge of the different possible
polymorphs of a crystal can also give better patent protection for a drug.

Polymer Modeling

Drug delivery is a complex task. The drug must be delivered in a way that transports
the active component intact to the appropriate part of the body. The way the cell takes
up the drug is also very important: drugs that go to parts of the body other than the
intended target are wasted and may lead to unwanted side effects.

Many delivery devices are polymeric with the drug either solubilised or emulsified in
the polymer. Drug delivery systems have mesoscale structures; between 10 to 1000
nm. The amount of computing power required to model these systems at an atomistic
level is prohibitive, and macroscale techniques such as Finite element analysis or
computational fluid dynamics do not give the required level of detail. Mesoscale
modeling, focusing on the nanometer length scale, is helping scientists to develop
colloidal delivery systems for drugs.

The great advances in human healthcare that are presaged by the Human Genome
Project can be realized by the pharmaceutical industry. A prerequisite for this will be
the successful integration of bioinformatics into most aspects of drug discovery.
Although, from a scientific viewpoint, this is not a difficult problem, there are
formidable technological obstacles. Once these are overcome, rapid progress can be
expected.