Wednesday, May 1, 2013 Daily Archives

Small Scale Automated Vial Filling

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For small scale vial filling operations the FLT features an ideal platform. With the ability to automatically fill, stopper, and cap most common vials with minimal size parts and a user friendly control system the FLT has the features big machine features in a compact package. The mobile cart and standard utility requirements the FLT can be utilized by several different users in a lab situation. The FLT can be used with a peristaltic pump, or a rolling diaphragm dosing system, both of which are available as a single use option from the Bosch PreVAS dosing system family. Utilizing an automated system reduces filling error and product loss in comparison to manual filling operations, reduced operator fatigue and improved productivity without adding headcount.

May 1, 2013

Broadening the Baseline

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When the editors of BPI asked us at BPSA to put together a content-rich article on single-use issues, we were happy to do so. Our challenge was how to bring in multiple viewpoints about the growing business of single-use that would be a “quick read” for the BPI audience. The answer: an expert colloquy. Represented here are several of the most qualified industry spokespersons in single-use — all are members of BPSA and speak as directors of the alliance. Their…

May 1, 2013

“Transformation By Infectionâ€

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Every bioprocess begins with an expression system, and every expression system begins with DNA transfection. Derived from transformation and infection, the word paradoxically has come to be applied mainly to nonviral methods of genetically engineering cells; viral-vector–mediated DNA transfer is often called transduction. There are chemical, particulate, physical/mechanical, and viral means of getting new genetic material into a cell, and that DNA may take a number of different forms. Even the cloning method (pictured right) using a microscopic needle to…

May 1, 2013

Better Cells for Better Health

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Since its inception 35 years ago, the biennial meeting of the European Society for Animal Cell Technology (ESACT) has built on a tradition of combining basic science and applications into industrial biotechnology to become the international reference event in its subject matter. Every other year, this gathering of academics and industry professionals features a famously exciting social program and an extensive vendor/supplier exhibition specific to animal cell technology. ESACT meetings are much-anticipated international venues for information exchange, inspiration, networking, and…

May 1, 2013

Purifying Common Light-Chain Bispecific Antibodies

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A bispecific antibody can bind two different antigens. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) type antibodies have two binding sites with different variable regions. An IgG variable region is made up of a variable light-chain sequence (VL) and a variable heavy-chain sequence (VH). The light chains (LCs) of common LC antibodies are identical for both variable regions, leaving the heavy chain (HC) for generating different specificities. Thus, recombinant host cells for production of common LC bispecific antibodies carry genes for both HCs, with…

May 1, 2013

High-Throughput Chromatography Screenings for Modulating Charge-Related Isoform Patterns

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Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are an important class of biopharmaceuticals and are widely used to treat a variety of diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and blood disorders. Antibodies are very complex proteins that show a high degree of microheterogeneities, including charge-, hydrophobicity- and size-related variances (1). Such variants can arise during any stage in a manufacturing process or storage as a result of enzymatic or nonenzymatic processes (2). Particular antibody variants that may affect the in vitro and in vivo…

May 1, 2013

Artifacts of Virus Filter Validation

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Virus filters are used in biomanufacturing to ensure the safety of biopharmaceutical drug products. As part of filter implementation, manufacturers are required to validate that the filtration process can indeed remove virus. Validations are typically performed at contract testing organizations (CTOs) that are “equipped for virological work and performed by staff with virological expertise in conjunction with production personnel involved in designing and preparing a scaled-down version of the purification process” (1). Virus removal capability of a filtration process is…

May 1, 2013

Bioengineered Ears: The Latest Advance

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Physicians at Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) and biomedical engineers at Cornell University have succeeded in building living facsimiles of human ears. They believe that their bioengineering method will finally achieve the goal of providing normal-appearing new ears to children born with a congenital ear deformity. The researchers used three-dimensional (3D) printing and injectable gels made of living cells. Over a three-month period, the ears steadily grew cartilage to replace the collagen used in molding them. The study’s colead-author is…

May 1, 2013

Are You Into Biosimilars?

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Learn about GE Healthcare Life Sciences’ aim to help bioprocessing teams map out the optimal plan to transform a biosimilars project idea into result, with greater flexibility and confidence and with reduced time and cost.

May 1, 2013