Teaching biologics formulation using molecular modeling and simulations

Teaching chemistry and chemical engineering students about biologics formulation remains challenging despite its increasing importance in pharmaceutical development. Monoclonal antibodies, commonly called mAbs, are the most popular biologics. They have been developed into drugs to treat various diseases in the past decades. Multiple challenges exist for designing proper formulations to stabilize mAbs, such as preventing aggregation and mitigating viscosity. Molecular modeling and simulations can improve pharmaceutical products by examining the interactions between mAbs and other compounds, such as excipients. To introduce students to biopharmaceuticals, eight chemical engineering students at the Stevens Institute of Technology participated in a semester-long course to learn the challenges of pharmaceutical development and different computational skills to study biologics formulation. The students started with a limited background in this field. Throughout one semester, they were introduced to various literature and software tools for modeling antibodies and studying their interactions with excipients. Positive learning outcomes were achieved through pre- and post-course assessments. This paper aims to develop a course structure to be replicated at other universities and institutions to teach biopharmaceutical development to students.