Biocompatible Ionic Liquids: A New Approach for Stabilizing Proteins in Liquid Formulation

The stabilization of proteins is a priority for several important fields, most notably the pharmaceutical industry. Protein-based therapeutic drugs have demonstrated significant efficacy in controlling and curing disease. Unlike traditional small molecule-based drug therapies, a major hurdle in the development of protein drugs is the challenge of maintaining the protein in the folded state throughout processing and also during storage at the end point-of-use. When a protein is taken from its native environment, it is often unstable and unfolds. Because the protein’s 3-dimensional structure is responsible for its functional activity, much work has been dedicated to finding excipients that will stabilize proteins outside of their native environment.