BioPharmaNet applies the skills of 13 different University Departments of Pharmacy participating to the Tefarco Consortium. The Consortium promotes innovation in the pharmaceuticals field in fundamental areas of drug discovery, drug delivery, safety and efficacy, dedicated analytical tools and manufacturing and quality of medicinal products.

In detail:

• drug discovery: identification of new molecules with relevant biological activities and characterisation of mechanisms of action by the application combinatorial chemistry, high-throughput screening and cell and tissue engineering;
• drug delivery: new administration routes for new and established drugs, with the aim to improve patient compliance and product efficacy, as well as to reduce side effects. Various technologies can be applied, including innovative tablets, bioadesive films for dermal and transdermal administration, lipid and polymeric nano and micro particles, chimerical agglomerates for oral and buccal administration;
• drug manufacturing and quality: CTD assistance, validation, Quality by Design and Process Analytical Technology (PAT);
• safety, Efficacy and Biomarkers: safety indicators resulting from experimental and theoretical models of structure-activity relationships, early markers of pharmacological and toxicological effects, patient selection on the basis of genetic features, patients data bases for clinical trials.

Main Activities:

• computer-aided design and optimization of bioactive compounds;
• design and synthesis of labelled compounds as biomarkers directed toward specific biological targets;
• design and synthesis of new antitumor agents;
• chemical optimization of reactivity for enzyme inhibitors useful as biomarkers, pharmacological tools or therapeutic agents;
• matrix or reservoir, for oral administration or transmucosal absorption;
• polymeric devices and microemulsion formulations for transdermal administration;
• cyclodextrin inclusion compounds for nasal, pulmonary and oral administration;
• polymeric vectors, liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, microemulsions for parenteral administration useful for drug targeting and gene therapy;
• drug - polymer conjugates for peptide and protein transport.

Work Group:

• Consorzio Tefarco, Paolo Colombo

BioPharmaNet develops innovative therapies within the field of Regenerative Medicine using somatic staminal cells. Innovation within this particular field requires concomitant development of activities leading to a better knowledge of the staminal cells and of the technology for expansion, differentiation, characterisation and storage of the cells.

Main activities:

• New Cells:
  • mesenchimal human staminal cells of different origins, preconditioned by physical stimulation or by chemicals, to be applied as a paracrine source;
  • isolation and characterisation of muscle staminal cells to be applied to the study of adypocyte differentiation;
  • isolation and characterisation of staminal cells of ocular surface, of urethral and oral mucosa;
  • isolation and characterisation of neural staminal cells to be applied to the study of neural and oligodendroglial differentiation.
• Implantable devices:
  • development of devices, including nanostructrural devices, utilising reservoir cells, to be implanted in CNS and cardiovascular system (GMP/GLP will be applied in some instances).
• Cell and Gene therapy:
  • development of experimental protocols to be applied in patients suffering from haemoglobin abnormalities;
  • development of experimental protocols to apply osteoclast cells in osteopenic conditions, as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, bone metastasis;
  • development of cell therapy protocols to be applied for surface epithelial regeneration, applying staminal epithelial cells culture;
  • development of gene therapy protocols for corneal and cutaneous genetic diseases, applying modified staminal epithelial cells;
  • development of cell therapy protocols to protect and repair of central nervous system;
  • development of cell therapy protocols to protect and repair of cardiovascular system.

Work Group:

• Laura Calzà, University of Bologna – mesenchimal, neural and glial human cells, staminal neural cells, implantable and non implantable devices
• Carlo Ventura, University of Bologna - cardiomyocites, human mesenchimal cells, implantable devices (GMP)
• Michele De Luca, University of Modena Reggio Emilia – epithelial cells, ocular and oral surface (GMP)
• Paolo Pinton, University of Ferrara – adipocytes, miocytes
• Roberto Gambari, University of Ferrara – erythroyd progenitors, osteocytes, haemoglobin abnormalities

The e-Health/Bioinformatics sector of BioPharmaNet performs research activities on technologies supporting data management and analysis of data obtained from clinical and genetic studies.

Main activities:

• conceptual models and IT instruments to analyse clinical information;
• IT standards and analysis methodologies for clinical data as related to genetic data (with particular emphasis on clinical genomics);
• statistical and ontological analysis of genetic screenings data;
• innovative technologies for health providing services;
• IT instruments supporting automation of the organisation process of health and hospital services;
• safety and protection of sensible personal data on electronic support, also within public networks.

Work Group:

• Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Luca Sangiorgi - models for clinical, genetics and imaging data
• Stefano Volinia, University of Ferrara - statistical analysis of genetic data
• Laura Calzà, University of Bologna - laboratory management models
• Sergio Ferrari, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia – Genomics and Bioinformatics
• NSI - NIER Soluzioni Informatiche srl , Giuseppe Frangiamone - software development and safety of sensible personal data
• Elda Rossi, CINECA - storage and computing services on genetic data

Biopharmanet performs Research activities in the field of genomics and post genomics, development of innovative therapies with engineered proteins, viral vectors, oligonucleotides and analogues. These technologies will be applied in oncology, in neurology, in pathological conditions linked to aging and pathological conditions of specific regional interest (e.g. β thalassemia), as well as to biological screening of compounds of therapeutical or toxicological interest.

Main activities:

• identification of prognostic markers for malignancy progression in various human tumours, mainly based on RNA Gene-Card;
• development of kits for diagnosis and prognosis by high-throughput gene expression and micro-RNAs analyses using Microarrays or Real Time in the oncology field;
• designing of tools for diagnosis and prognosis by genotyping using Microarrays;
• development of new protocols for therapy and diagnosis based on DNA and analogues (PNA-DNA) endowed with biological activities;
• generation of cell lines expressing neuroblastoma reporter genes, specifically designed to study chemical compounds selectively blocking their expression;
• embryonic staminal cells application in the field of screening;
• development of innovative biosensors (based on proteins including GFP, luciferase and aequorin) to be applied to biological screening of compounds of therapeutical or toxicological interest.

Work Group:

• Laura Calzà, Università di Bologna - stem-wells
• Giuliano Della Valle, Università di Bologna – Gene-Card, Gene reporters
• Sergio Ferrari, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia – microarrays, micro-RNAs
• Claudio Franceschi, Università di Bologna - Genetics and Immunology in Aging
• Roberto Gambari, Università di Ferrara – PNA-DNA
• Paolo Pinton, Università di Ferrara – GFP, luciferase and aequorin
• Stefano Volinia, Università di Ferrara - microarrays

Translational medicine allows the direct transfer to clinic of scientific results. It integrates the results of basic science with the study of new drugs, new clinical developments and therapeutic approaches to provide a personal solution for single patient.

Main activities:

• study of safety and efficacy for innovative therapies of degenerative pathologies of nervous and cardiovascular systems and age-related multifactorial pathologies (Parkinson disease, cannabis and alcohol addiction, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer disease, vascular dementia, Ataxia, acute and chronic pain);
• testing of new molecules, engineering proteins, cellular biosensor, oligonucleotides, viral vectors, cells and nanostructured devices applied to cell-reservoir and in vitro and in vivo systems;
• new strategies of drug delivery in animal models;
• solution ad hoc for rapid progression from in vitro testing to final pilot trial on small and big animals;
• new models of safety and efficacy of biomedical devices that use physic Energy (radiofrequency, laser, electromagnetic field, etc.);
• new cellular models to study the mitochondrial pathologies.

Work Group:

• Luciana Giardino, University of Bologna - Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer disease, vascular dementia, Ataxia, acute and chronic pain
• Sergio Tanganelli, University of Ferrara – Parkinson disease, cannabis and alcohol overindulgence
• Carlo Ventura, University of Bologna - cardiovascular pathologies
• Roberto Gambari, University of Ferrara - hemoglobinopathies, osteopenic pathologies
• Paolo Pinton, University of Ferrara – cellular biosensor, mitochondria
• Alessandra Scagliarini, University of Bologna - antiviral drugs