Evaluating Thermal Stability (Tm) Analysis and Thermodynamic Properties of Nucleic Acid Drugs

User Benefits

- Determine the temperature at which 50 % of double-stranded DNA separates into single-stranded DNA (Temperature of Melting [Tm]) for nucleic acid drugs. - Use Tm to determine changes in Gibbs free energy, an indicator of drug activity. - Derive thermodynamic properties, such as entropy change and enthalpy change.

Introduction

Until around 20 years ago, the vast majority of drugs in the pharmaceutical industry were relatively cheap low-molecular- weight drugs. By 2021, antibody drugs and other biopharmaceuticals that have relatively high molecular weights had grown to account for more than 30 % of all sales. Now, recent improvements in drug discovery technology and greater knowledge of the life sciences are expected to accelerate the development and marketing of nucleic acid drugs that are as safe and effective as biopharmaceuticals and that can treat diseases that biopharmaceuticals cannot.

June 2, 2022 GMT