biological drug
Meaning of biological drug: A biological drug is a medication manufactured from living cells or organisms rather than through direct chemical synthesis alone.
Definition of biological drug
A biological drug, often called a biologic, is a medication produced from or using living cells or organisms rather than being manufactured entirely through direct chemical synthesis. Because they are derived from biological sources, these products tend to be larger and structurally more complex than conventional small molecule drugs.
Biological drugs include a wide range of products, such as monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, insulin, blood products, and various proteins used to treat conditions including cancer, autoimmune disease, and diabetes. Many biologics are designed to target a specific molecule or receptor involved in a disease process.
Because biological drugs are complex and derived from living systems, they generally cannot be exactly copied the way a conventional chemical drug can, which is why similar but not identical versions, called biosimilars, are developed and evaluated separately rather than as exact generic equivalents.
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Used in a sentence
The patient's rheumatoid arthritis was treated with a biological drug targeting a specific immune protein.
Good to know
A biological drug is not chemically identical to a conventional small molecule drug even when both target the same condition, a distinction relevant to how each is manufactured, stored, and substituted.