Though my primary focus is on gene transfer, I will occasionally wander into other areas of translational pharmaceutical research, including cell transfer (also sometimes called “cell therapy”), monoclonal antibodies, small-molecule drugs that target novel biological mechanisms, or large-molecule drugs.
These types of translational clinical research raise a similar cluster of issues– namely, high degrees of uncertainty, risk, scientific complexity, desperately ill volunteers, ambitious investigators, financial interests, and complicated intellectual property issues.