Analytical

Breaking the Bottlenecks: Accelerating Viral Vector Bioanalysis in Downstream Processing

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The rise in popularity of viral-vector–based gene therapies and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines has created a shortage of manufacturing capacity, driving efficiency improvements to avoid bottlenecks in bioanalysis to support culture optimization and bioprocessing steps. To improve workflows in bioanalytical assay development and sample analysis, more efficient methods are needed that include higher throughput, simpler and more streamlined sample assay methods, wide dynamic ranges, and efficient data processing and interpretation. Gyrolab™ microfluidic, nanoliter-scale immunoassay systems provide an innovative, robust solution to high-performance…

September 11, 2020

Peptide Therapies: Designing a Science-Led Strategic Quality Control Program

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Peptide therapeutics are a unique class of pharmaceuticals. They can fall into one or more regulatory categories: as conventional chemical molecules, biological entities, or biosimilars. Developing a well–thought-out quality control (QC) strategy is key to meeting development milestones and complying with evolving regulatory requirements. Safety assessment is critical because slight changes in the structure, physicochemical properties, stability, and impurity profile of a peptide can provoke an adverse immune response. A robust analytical QC program should be conducted in laboratories that…

September 2, 2020
challenges with exosome therapy

eBook: Challenges in Industrial Process Development of Exosome-Based Therapies: Characterizing and Managing Diversity

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The traditional classification of extracellular vesicles (EVs) includes three types: exosomes, microvesicles, and apoptotic vesicles. Each type arises from a distinct origin and exhibits distinct characteristics. The problem is that their size ranges overlap and that the major surface proteins presented by exosomes also are present on the surfaces of microvesicles and apoptotic bodies. This makes it a challenge for process developers to identify the vesicle fraction that best serves a particular exosome therapy. Anion-exchange chromatography (AEC) can fractionate EVs…

August 25, 2020

Early Stage Analytical Considerations for Late Stage Biologics Success

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This BPI Special Report will cover phase appropriate analytical strategies that will balance various drivers to meet overall development goals without sacrificing the requirements of a program. The goal is to provide important recommendations for analytical method development that can help the biopharmaceutical industry identify opportunities to improve lead time and reduce development costs while maintaining required quality standards. Fill out the form below to learn more about analytical method development now.   Arugadoss Devakumar, PhD, is director of analytical…

June 26, 2020

The Upstream Perspective: Taking Efficiency Beyond Cell-Line Development

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With 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry — at Genentech, Applied Biosystems, Cell Genesys, Cellerant Therapeutics, and Bayer — Yuval Shimoni has written frequently for BioProcess International on a number of production topics. Those have ranged from process improvements and bioreactor scale-down validation, to raw materials management, to addressing variability and virus contamination events. For this featured report, we discussed hardware and instrumentation, quality by design (QbD) and related approaches, and other strategies that can take expediting upstream…

June 16, 2020

The Downstream Perspective: Putting Product Knowledge to Work Using Technological Innovations

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After over a quarter century in the industry — including downstream processing (DSP) and manufacturing directorships at Boehringer Ingelheim and leadership roles in technology development, quality, and manufacturing at Novasep — European consultant Margit Holzer is a recognized expert in downstream processing of biopharmaceutical products. Holding a doctorate in biotechnology from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Austria, Holzer is familiar to BPI readers as both an author and conference participant (1, 2). And in May…

June 16, 2020

The Analytical Perspective: Turning Data Into Information Requires Teamwork

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As head of bioanalytics at Sanofi, Claire Davies leads a team of >90 people involved in development, qualification, and transfer of methods to internal and external commercial quality control units; characterization, comparability, and developability of proteins and gene therapies; and analytical support for up- and downstream development, production, product release, and stability testing. She has served in a number of roles over 18 years with Sanofi, from chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) leadership of preclinical to commercial products (leading and…

June 16, 2020

Trends in COVID-19 Diagnostic Test Development

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The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is posing a great threat to global public health and economies. Accurate and rapid detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and diagnosis of infection status will play a critical role in understanding the disease, selecting appropriate treatments, controlling the spread, and developing informed back-to-work policies. Currently, a review of ongoing efforts in the development of COVID-19 diagnostic tests is lacking. For this review, we collected data on more…

June 11, 2020

Anticipating Cell-Line Challenges to Drive CMC Readiness

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Development of a safe and high-quality Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line is of paramount importance for the chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) portion of studies that support investigational new drug (IND) applications (1, 2). Desirable attributes of a CHO cell line include its ability to produce high titers of biotherapeutic proteins facilitate quick recoveries and selection processes maintain phenotypic and genetic stability throughout in-vitro aging of a culture. A CHO cell line also should be scalable to high-capacity culture…

June 10, 2020

Ask the Expert: Improving Host-Cell Protein Detection By Enriching Mass Spectrometry Samples

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Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) remain the industry standard for process monitoring and lot-release testing for host-cell proteins (HCPs), but researchers need orthogonal tests to confirm that an ELISA is fit for purpose. On 22 April 2020, Eric Bishop (vice president of research and development at Cygnus Technologies) delivered an “Ask the Expert†presentation about his company’s solution: mass spectrometry (MS) preceded by a novel Antibody Affinity Extraction (AAE) technique. Bishop explained that an AAE step can magnify a sample’s HCP…

June 10, 2020