Biopharmaceuticals main classes comprise recombinant proteins, antibodies,
and nucleic-acid-derived products, while synthetic pharmaceuticals include a wide
variety of organic compounds. The purification of (bio)pharmaceuticals, as part of
downstream processing, is mainly carried out by chromatographic processes, which are
responsible for the therapeutics high cost. Therefore, there is a crucial need on the
development of novel and more efficient separation/purification processes or on the
improvement of the current chromatographic-based ones, aiming at producing
pharmaceuticals of high quality and at a lower cost. Amongst alternative techniques, it
has been demonstrated that inorganic or organic (nano)particles, used in solid-phase
extraction approaches, may be promising for the purification of (bio)pharmaceuticals.
This chapter provides an overview on solid-liquid separation/purification processes
used to obtain high purity and high quality pharmaceuticals. The main purification
processes are described and summarized. The areas where there has been a sustainable
progress, combined with improved therapeutic characteristics, are highlighted.
Materials based on silica (nano)particles, carbon-based (nano)particles (carbon
nanotubes, graphene and activated carbon) and magnetic (nano)particles are
overviewed. Based on the reported results, nanotechnology may play a key role in
future pharmaceutical developments and manufacturing, where the design of suitable
functionalized (nano)particles is a crucial factor to enhance the selectivity and to obtain
high purification and recovery yields of (bio)pharmaceuticals.
Keywords: (Bio)pharmaceuticals, Carbon-based (Nano)particles, Downstream
Processing, Magnetic (Nano)particles, Nanotechnology, Pharmaceuticals
Manufacturing, Purification Techniques, Silica (Nano)particles, Solid-liquid
Extraction, Solid-phase Extraction.
