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Pathogen

A disease-causing agent such as a bacterium or virus.

Pegylation

The process of adding polyethylene glycol to a therapeutic protein, which enables the therapeutic protein to stay in the body longer.

Peptibodies

Engineered therapeutic fusion proteins with attributes of both peptides and antibodies but that are distinct from each and that can bind to human drug targets.

Peptide Bond

A bond that links together two or more amino acids. A protein is a long chain of amino acids joined together with peptide bonds and therefore is sometimes referred to as a polypeptide.

Peptides

Short chains of amino acids. Polypeptides, or multiple peptides linked together by peptide bonds, are long chains of amino acids.

Personalized Medicine

Use of the information contained within a patient's genome, genotype or genomic signature to design and tailor the best treatment plan for that individual patient.

Pharmacodynamics

Studies performed to determine what a drug does to the body.

Pharmacogenomics

The science of understanding the correlation between patients' genetic makeup (genotype) and their responses to drug treatment.

Pharmacokinetics

Studies performed to determine what the body does to a drug.

Phosphorylation

The addition of a phosphate (PO4) group to a protein or other organic molecule. Protein phosphorylation plays a significant role in a wide range of cellular processes.

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

A method for creating millions of copies of a particular segment of DNA. If a scientist needs to detect the presence of a very small amount of a particular DNA sequence, PCR can be used to amplify the amount of that sequence until there are enough copies available to be detected.

Preclinical Trials (or Studies)

Tests that take place in a scientifically controlled setting using cell culture and/or animals as disease models.

Product Pipeline

In the biomedical industry, the term pipeline refers to the number of unique products or processes reported or in development by a company. Drugs that have entered into clinical trials are said to be in the pipeline.

Protein Engineering

A process for isolating and studying proteins and generating proteins with modified structures by altering the genes that direct their composition.

Proteins

Compounds (chains of amino acids) constituting the ultimate expression product of a gene. Created through the synthesis performed by ribosomes, proteins are the workhorses of living systems, causing chemical processes and changing as their environment changes.

Proteomics

The study of proteins. Proteomics has three major goals: to identify and quantify all the proteins expressed in an organism, to determine the structure and function of each protein and to study the protein-protein interactions that affects how one protein interacts with other proteins to control cellular processes.