Dear Reader,


Welcome to the final issue of BioDrugs for 2020. I wish to reflect on another successful year’s achievements, and to thank all those who have contributed their time and effort to guarantee the quality of our content.


The high quality of the content published in BioDrugs has been reflected in the most recent Impact Factor of 5.313. This places the journal in the first quartile of the Immunology, Oncology, and Pharmacology & Pharmacy categories. Furthermore, BioDrugs has published content in a timely manner, with an average time from submission to acceptance of 89 days.


In 2020, over 60 articles have been published. The most popular of these in terms of downloads from SpringerLink have been


This year has presented many challenges and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who have contributed to ensuring the journal has thrived despite the extraordinary circumstances that the science community, and the world in general, has faced.


I would like to start by thanking the authors of the articles published in BioDrugs over the course of 2020. The enthusiasm of all authors for their chosen fields and their willingness to contribute content to the journal are crucial for its continued success.


The quality of published articles is also testament to the diligence of the peer reviewers, whose willingness to share their expertise ensures that the journal’s content is held to the highest standard. I would like to acknowledge the following individuals who acted as reviewers for BioDrugs in the last 12 months:


Hesham Abboud, USA

Mohammed I. Aladul, Iraq

Saja Alnahar, Jordan

Marina Aloi, Italy

Vito Annese, United Arab Emirates

Federico Arguelles-Arias, Spain

Stephen Attwood, UK

Yves Aubin, Canada

Vladimir Baklaushev, The Russian Federation

Michael Barry, Ireland

Dorthe Bartels, Denmark

Bridget Bax, UK

Andrea Becciolini, Italy

Alain Beck, France

Charles L. Bennett, USA

Shubha Bhat, USA

Lokesh Bhatt, India

Saveri Bhattacharya, USA

Elizabeth Buchbinder, USA

Ted M. Burns, USA

Kim Chan, Australia

Zhilei Chen, USA

Narendra Chirmule, USA

Carlo Chizzolini, Switzerland

Hannah Choe, USA

Catalin Codreanu, Romania

Hillel P. Cohen, USA

Jeffrey A. Cohen, USA

Romain Cohen, France

Tünde Csepany, Hungary

Fraser Cummings, UK

Paola M. Cutroneo, Italy

Michael R.R. da Silva, Brazil

Jonathan J. Darrow, USA

Satya Das, USA

Fernando de Mora, Spain

Carlo DeAngelis, Canada

Rossella Di Bidino, Italy

Dario Dilillo, Italy

Richard Dolinar, USA

Juan Dominguez-Robles, UK

Alexandros A. Drosos, Greece

Hans Ebbers, Switzerland

Mark S. Freedman, Canada

Nils E. Gilhus, Norway

Brian Godman, Sweden

Guro Goll, Norway

Elisabete Gonçalves, Portugal

Maria Greenwald, USA

Hildegard Greinix, Austria

Henning Gruell, Germany

Maria Guerra Veloz, Spain

Grace Hampson, UK

Lora Hamuro, USA

Graham F. Hatfull, USA

A. Barney Hawthorne, UK

William Hogan, USA

Kevin Hollevoet, Belgium

Li-feng Hsu, Taiwan, Republic of China

Michael Hurwitz, USA

Elisabeth Husar, Switzerland

Rohit Jain, USA

Robyn V. Jamieson, Australia

Molly M. Jeffery, USA

Bengt Jonsson, Sweden

Kristin Jorgensen, Norway

Carol Kirchhoff, USA

Ingo Kleiter, Germany

Roland E. Kontermann, Germany

Andrew J. Krentz, UK

Sherko Kümmel, Germany

Pekka Kurki, Finland

Christopher Lao, USA

Chris A. Liacouras, USA

Michael N. Liebman, USA

Jennifer Liu, USA

Ruth Lopert, USA

Ersilia Lucenteforte, Italy

Fabio Salvatore Macaluso, Italy

Marina A. Machado, Canada

Robert MacLaren, UK

Ivan Marquez-Rodas, Spain

Paul J. Martin, USA

Eva Martínez-Cáceres, Spain

Jennifer C. Massey, Australia

Emad Massoud, Canada

Anne Messer, USA

Jorge Mestre-Ferrandiz, Spain

Markus Mezger, Germany

Lotte Minnema, The Netherlands

Timothy A. Moseley, USA

Serge Muyldermans, Belgium

Vladimir R. Muzykantov, USA

Sumimasa Nagai, Japan

Jun-ichi Nishimura, Japan

Shin Nishio, Japan

Konstantinos Papamichael, USA

Nikolaos Papanas, Greece

Maria Kristina Parr, Germany

Atul Patel, India

Himanshu Patel, India

James R. Patrinely, USA

Christopher J. Patriquin, Canada

Regis Peffault deLatour, France

Franck Perez, France

Diana P. Pires, Portugal

Zhigang Qi, China

Joannes A.A. Reijers, The Netherlands

Wolfgang F. Richter, Switzerland

Timothy Rudd, UK

Piotr Rutkowski, Poland

Danay Saavedra, Cuba

Donald B. Sanders, USA

Andrea Sartore-Bianchi, Italy

Edoardo Savarino, Italy

Huub Schellekens, The Netherlands

Martin Schiestl, Austria

Anna Serrano-Mollar, Spain

Kichul Shin, Republic of Korea

Francesca Romana Spinelli, Italy

Sarah A. Stewart, UK

Ivana Stojanovic, Serbia

Vibeke Strand, USA

Antoinette Tan, USA

Deborah Lynn Toppmeyer, USA

Maria Trovato, Italy

Asterios S. Tsiftsoglou, Greece

Marco Tuccori, Italy

John Valentine, USA

Tsvetelina Velikova, Bulgaria

Pablo Villoslada, Spain

Arnold G. Vulto, The Netherlands

Jiang-Hui Wang, Australia

Chao Wang, USA

Christopher J. Webster, USA

Jeffry Weers, USA

James C-C. Wei, Taiwan, Republic of China

Martina Weise, Germany

Wendy W. Weston, USA

Astrid Wiens, Brazil

Andrew Wilber, USA

Elena Wolff-Holz, Germany

Sarah Yim, USA

Dae Hyun Yoo, Republic of Korea

Xiaofeng Zeng, China

Libo Zhao, China


I am also very grateful to the members of the journal’s Honorary Editorial Board, who have acted as peer reviewers and authors, and have provided guidance on journal content, policy and processes.


Lothar Bergmann, Klinikum der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitat, Frankfurt, Germany

George D. Demetri, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA

Terence R. Flotte, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

Timothy M. Ganey, Vivex Biomedical, Atlanta, GA, USA

Arnold Ganser, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany

Hans-Peter Gerber, 3T Biosciences, Palo Alto, CA, USA

Thijs J. Giezen, Foundation Pharmacy for Hospitals in Haarlem, Haarlem, The Netherlands

Bernd Groner, Georg-Speyer-Haus, Institute for Biomedical Research, Frankfurt, Germany

Francois Guilhot, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France

William H. Hildebrand, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

Phillippe Moingeon, Stallergenes, Paris, France

Dafne Müller, Universitat Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

Won Park, Inha University Medical School, Incheon, Republic of Korea

Cesar Picado, Hospital Clinic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Thomas Schirrmann, YUMAB GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany

Susan Sharfstein, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Albany, NY, USA

Cy A. Stein, City of Hope Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA

Raymond C. Stevens, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

William R. Strohl, BiStro Biotech Consulting, Bridgewater, NJ, USA

Bruce A. Sullenger, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

Jonathan Terrett, CRISPR Therapeutics, Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA

Gianluca Trifirò, University of Messina, Sicily, Italy

Piotr Trzonkowski, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland

Jos W. van der Meer, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Gillian Woollett, Avalere Health, Washington, DC, USA


The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of rapid and wide dissemination of high-quality information. Springer Nature is supporting the global response to COVID-19 by making all relevant content immediately and freely available, including the following articles in BioDrugs:


In 2021, BioDrugs will continue to provide you with high interest, clinically relevant content in the field of biotechnology-based pharmaceuticals for the treatment of human disease. I thank you for your continued support.


With best wishes,

Kathy Fraser, Editor