Downstream Processing Agenda

Registration

Public Funding for Academic Bioprocessing Research in the UK
James Philips, Business Interface Manager, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, United Kingdom

I will be giving a talk on the support for bioprocessing research from the UK Government, primarily focusing on the Research Councils and the Technology Strategy Board.

Antibody Fragments – New Approaches for Production
John Liddell, Head of Process Science, Avecia Biologics, United Kingdom

With approved products already being marketed, antibody fragments have the potential to become a major category of biotherapeutics building on the clinical successes of antibodies.

Solutions for the Expression and Purification of Pre-Clinical Grade Therapeutic Proteins
Paul Kerr, Director, Fusion Antibodies, United Kingdom

Coffee Break and Networking in the Exhibition Hall

Advances in Membrane Chromatography
Doreen Corkill, Senior Process Development Specialist, Sartorius Stedim Biotech, United Kingdom

Membrane chromatography is fast becoming a preferred choice for the polishing chromatography step. This technology will be discussed in detail, alongside the new trends in more longstanding technologies such as depth and crossflow filtration. Finally novel technologies for virus inactivation will be discussed, such as Ultraviolet – C Irradiation and automated systems for the low pH holding step will be presented.

Lunch and Networking in the Exhibition Hall

Poster Viewing Session

Continuous Chromatography (MCSGP) for the Purification of Therapeutic Proteins
Thomas Mueller-Spaeth, Research Associate, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

In the production of therapeutic proteins, the demand for cost reductions, higher loads and higher throughput has triggered a search for alternatives to the state of art batch chromatography purification in terms of chromatographic and non-chromatographic process concepts. On the chromatography side, the use of cost-effective ion exchange stationary phases and gradient chromatography in combination with multicolumn continuous chromatographic processes (MCSGP) presents an option for biopurifications. Advantages over batch chromatography include the possibility of simultaneous achievement of high yield and purity, a higher productivity and lower buffer consumption.

Modeling and Prediction of Antibody Chromatography Purification
Christian Frech, Head, University of Applied Sciences, Germany

Coffee Break and Networking in the Exhibition Hall

Host Cell Protein Interactions During the Recovery of Monoclonal Antibodies
Daniel Bracewell, Senior Lecturer, University College London, United Kingdom

PEGylate and Purify: A Dual Role of His-tag for PEGylated Therapeutics
Ji-won Choi, Director, PolyTherics, United Kingdom

HiPEG™ technology is a site-specific way of conjugating PEG on widely used his-tag on therapeutic proteins. Established IMAC-based purification methodologies can be used to recover his-tagged protein even after the PEG has been conjugated to the his-tag.

Drinks Reception

State of the Art and Future Tools for High Throughput Process Development in the Biopharmaceutical Industry
Jurgen Hubbuch, Professor, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology, Germany

High throughput process development methodologies have changed process development in the biopharmaceutical industry dramatically. Hand in hand with the QbD approach by the FDA we see a shift towards a rational and platform based process development. Tools used in this methodology are high throughput screening strategies, statistical and model based design of experiments, HTS compatible analytics and data analysis.

Coffee Break and Networking in the Exhibition Hall

Nanoencapsulation of Hydrophobic Proteins to Enable Simple Downstream Purification
Timothy Dafforn, Professor, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

Downstream Processing Optimization for an Insect Cell-Based VLP Vaccine Candidate
Tiago Vicente, DSP Scientist, Redbiotec, Switzerland

Lunch and Networking in the Exhibition Hall

Poster Viewing Session

Too Big to Bind? Novel Techniques for Separation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells Based on Physical Properties
Nicholas Willoughby, Lecturer, Heriot Watt University, United Kingdom

This work uses techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) to investigate physical properties of different cell types such as elasticity, topography and surface charge. By identifying significant differences in physcial properties between pluripotent cells and their more differentiated progeny, we can develop more simplistic, robust and scalable purification techniques than those currently based upon complex antigen intereactions. By studying variations in elasticity and surface charge properties of different cell types we are able to design separation devices based upon channels and charged surfaces which selectively remove undifferentiated hES cells from a mixed population of cell types.

Micro-Rheological & DLS Characterization of High Concentration Proteins & Protein Aggregates
Samiul Amin, Manager, Malvern Instruments Limited, United Kingdom

Coffee Break, Networking in the Exhibition Hall and Close of Conference