Science and Regulations of Naturally Derived Complex Drugs

Amy Rosenberg received her medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine. She was a post-doctoral fellow in Al Singer’s Laboratory in the NCI before coming to CBER, FDA in 1988. She became Director of the Division of Therapeutic Proteins, CBER/CDER in 2000. Her division (now DBRR3 in the Office of Biotechnology Products, CDER) regulates diverse protein therapeutics, including monoclonal antibodies and fusion proteins, enzyme replacement therapies, hematologic and somatic cell growth factors, and immunomodulatory agents. She has been a driving force in risk evaluation and mitigation pertaining to the immunogenicity of therapeutic proteins (Guidance for Industry: Immunogenicity Assessment for Therapeutic Protein Products) and in the elucidation and implementation of immune tolerance induction protocols in clinical settings. She previously co-edited the AAPS/Springer Book “Biobetters: Protein Engineering to Approach the Curative”. Larry A. Walker is Director Emeritus of the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) at the University of Mississippi, having retired at the end of 2016 after 15 years as director.  He has been a member of the faculty of the School of Pharmacy at Ole Miss for 37 years.  He took his undergraduate pharmacy training at Mercer University (1975), and his doctorate in Pharmacology from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1979, He has worked for much of his career on natural products drug discovery, pharmacology, toxicology and metabolism. Dr. Walker is a co-author of more than 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals in pharmacology, toxicology, and natural products discovery and development.  He is a member of the American Society of Pharmacognosy, American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, American Society of Microbiology, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. He has served on editorial boards of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Phytotherapy Research, and was the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Biomolecular Screening from 1999-2007. He received the University’s second Distinguished Research and Creative Achievement Award in 2009, and the School of Pharmacy’s Researcher of the Year Award in 2003.  He works presently on development of strategic partnerships for the University of Mississippi, and as a senior science advisor with ElSohly Laboratories, Inc. in Oxford, MS, and consultant for pharmaceutical and botanical supplement industries.

• Evolving Challenges in Developing Naturally-Derived Complex Mixtures into Drugs: U.S. Experience and Perspective.- Regulatory Landscapes for Approval of Naturally-derived Complex Mixture Drugs.- Complex Natural Product Heparin: Biosynthesis, Biology and Application via Synthetic Heparins.- Traditional Chinese Medicine Herbal Drugs: From Heritage to Future Developments.- Analytics on Farm-Dust Extract for Development of Novel Strategies to Prevent Asthma and Allergic Disease.- Analytical Tools for Physicochemical Characterization and Fingerprinting.- NMR in the Characterization of Complex Mixture Drugs.- Mass Spectrometry in the Characterization of Complex Drugs.- Scientific Considerations in the Approval of Complex Generi.- Raw Materials Production and Manufacturing Process Control Strategies.- Heparin Contamination and Issues Related to Raw Materials and Controls.- Pharmacology and Toxicology Concerns of Impurities.- Immunogenicity risks for Naturally Derived Complex Drugs.- Development of Plant-Derived Mixtures as Botanical Drugs: Clinical Considerations.- A Totality-of-Evidence Approach to Ensuring Therapeutic Consistency of Naturally Derived Complex Mixtures.- Economic Considerations for Complex Mixture Drugs.- Drug Discovery from Complex Mixtures: Serendipity, Screening and Characterization.- Integrated Approach for Characterization of Highly Heterogeneous Drugs.