Kennesaw State assistant professor receives grant to improve shelf life of peptide- and protein-based drugs

(Press-News.org) Sugar-based liquid solvents store crucial injection-based therapeutics such as insulin and vaccines.

However, the shelf lives of these therapeutics are altered because the properties of these solvents alter the critical proteins necessary for under-the-skin treatments over time.

Kennesaw State University Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Mohammad Halim has received a three-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to study protein- and enzyme-based solvents, aiming to improve storage of injection-based therapeutics.

Halim’s research seeks to find the optimal mixture of eutectic solvents, which can store these drugs at subfreezing temperatures with elements that will not bind to the proteins, extending their useful life cycle.

“My research tries to understand how eutectic solvents form between two components and how they can preserve all peptide- and protein-based drugs because we will see more of those kinds of treatments,” Halim said. “But we do not have a reliable preservation technique. I'm getting this funding to develop a new solvent that can keep the protein in native state and extend their shelf lives without side effects.”

Protein-based drugs can only be effective if they stay intact, but they need solvents to preserve and administer into a patient. With the increase in peptide-based drugs over the past decade, the biomedical industry seeks more reliable ways of preserving these pharmaceuticals. Protein-based therapeutics represent a $679 million industry by 2033, and enzymes designed to stabilize these proteins could contribute to a $8.2 billion industry by 2030.

“One of the drawbacks of existing preservation techniques with sugar bases (such as Trehalose) that we identified is that they alter the structure of protein via glycosylation,” Halim said. “These protein-based drugs contain larger and more intricate molecules and pose new challenges in terms preserving their integrity and stability over extended periods.”

The grant will also allow Halim to continue his success at engaging undergraduates and master's students in one of the most active research labs on campus. Since arriving at Kennesaw State in 2021, Halim mentored a record number of students, including 105 undergraduates and 12 graduate students at KSU. These students contributed to 18 student co-authored publications, 141 oral and poster presentations at various local, regional and national conferences.

“Research and teaching aren’t just my job; they are my passion,” he said. “I work with my students in the research lab, and train them to be next-generation scientists. I consider myself a nucleus in the research lab, because if the nucleus stays, the electrons (students) revolve around the nucleus, which supports them. I teach and mentor with ‘pleasure-driven’ approach where any students irrespective of their background can enjoy, consume and understand the chemistry concepts and solve critical problems through research.”

Halim has three internal collaborators within the College of Science and Mathematics on the project as well: assistant professors Carl Saint Louis, Madalynn Marshall, and Soon Goo Lee. Through the grant, the research team will also have an opportunity to use the neutron scattering machine at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee for an external collaboration.

END