2018

Single-Use Bioreactors: Performance and Usability Considerations Part 1: Performance for Process Control

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There is ever increasing pressure for the biopharmaceutical industry to drive toward higher efficiency and lower costs. Compared to the past, target markets for many drugs typically are becoming smaller, and so-called blockbuster drugs are becoming more the exception than the rule. Regulatory agencies have continued to increase the pressure on drug makers to meet increasing quality standards and accept higher levels of responsibility. Furthermore, customer pricing, healthcare markets, and recent biopharmaceutical pricing scandals all add incentives toward more efficient…

June 23, 2018

PDB-Dimer Payloads for Antibody Drug Conjugates: A Robust Approach to cGMP Production

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From the 1960s when monomeric pyrrolobenzodiazepines (PBDs) such as anthramycin were isolated and characterized, to the dramatic increase of potency induced by dimerization in the 2000s, PBD dimers have evolved as one of the leading classes of antibody drug conjugate (ADC) payloads. Currently, 17 ADCs are in clinical trials involving PBD-dimers — second only to auristatins (23 ADCs), and more than those with maytansines (16 ADCs). Four different PBD-dimer ADC payloads are in clinical trials: Talirine (SGD-1910) from Seattle Genetics;…

June 23, 2018

Accelerating Vaccine Production Using a Nonviral Enabling Technology for Cell Engineering

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At the recent World Vaccine Conference, Victor Ayala, PhD, an early stage investigator with Advanced BioScience Laboratories, Inc. (ABL), discussed how to accelerate vaccine production using a nonviral enabling technology for cell engineering. ABL is a contract research/manufacturing organization (CRO/CMO) providing manufacturing and laboratory research services to advance leading vaccines and therapies from clinical development to the commercial market. The company has been conducting R&D research for over 55 years and performing CMO manufacturing for over 25 years. With more…

June 22, 2018

eBook: Quality By Design for Monoclonal Antibodies — Establishing the Foundations for Process Development, Design Space, and Process Control Strategies

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The quality by design (QbD) modernized approach to pharmaceutical development is intended to provide regulatory flexibility, increased development and manufacturing efficiency, and greater room to innovate as well as improve manufacturing processes within defined ranges without obtaining regulatory approval first. QbD is a systematic developmental approach that starts with a clear goal in mind and emphasizes understanding of how variability in both process and materials affects a final product (1). Historically, product quality has been assured either with end-product testing…

June 22, 2018

June From the Editor

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It surprises some folks in the BPI community to learn that I’m a journalist by training, boasting a mere bachelor of arts degree in journalism despite my high-fallutin’ technical editor title. I was originally trained in Associated Press (AP) style by a veteran newsman who spent many years working for AP’s main competitor, United Press International (UPI). When I first started on BioPharm back in 1996, I had to get up to speed quickly on the stylebooks of Chicago and…

June 20, 2018

June Spotlight

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Holding True to the Price-Cap Pledge As in previous years, 2018 started with more than 30 drugs increasing in price on the US market. However, data and analysis firm GlobalData observes that criticism from politicians and the public seems to be keeping the industry to a 10% self-imposed price-hike limit. It began with Allergan CEO Brent Saunders pledging to police pricing in 2016, when he stated that his company would limit itself to one price increase per year and only…

June 20, 2018

Cultivating Better Working Relationships with Contract Manufacturing Organizations: A Panel Discussion

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On 21 March 2018, a panel discussion during BPI West in San Francisco addressed ways to improve working relationships between sponsors and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs). Our goal as organizers was to avoid retreading overfamiliar ground: Many outsourcing articles stress the importance of good communication without delving into actual strategies for improvement. So I asked the panelists to focus on the word better and what that actually means in this context. The most productive way to approach such a discussion…

June 20, 2018

Methods on the Move: Addressing Method Transfer Challenges for the Biopharmaceutical Industry

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Analytical method transfers are essential components of the current global biotechnology environment. Analytical method transfer can be defined as “a documented process that qualifies a laboratory (the receiving laboratory) to use a validated analytical test procedure that originated in another laboratory (sending laboratory), thus ensuring that the receiving laboratory has the procedural knowledge and ability to perform the transferred analytical procedure as intended†(1). The goal is to ensure that a method continues to perform in the validated state regardless…

June 20, 2018

Demand for Capacity Drives China’s Biomanufacturing Expansion

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Over the past year, most of China’s biomanufacturing facilities have been engaged in active facility expansion. Based on our research of facilities under active construction, that growth has expanded total capacity in China by over 10%. Our research updates the Top 60 Biopharmaceutical Manufacturers in China directory from BioPlan Associates (1) and shows a continuing increase in new bioprocess capacity. This trend is unlikely to abate. As well as contacting our top 60 biomanufacturers, in fact, we contacted a number…

June 20, 2018

Host-Cell Protein Risk Management and Control During Bioprocess Development: A Consolidated Biotech Industry Review, Part 2

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Even with increased understanding of host cell proteins (HCPs) and their potential risks, no practical approach has been made available for HCP risk management during bioprocess development. A BioPhorum Development Group (BPDG) team has identified common HCP-related risk factors and built a template for semiquantitative risk assessment during process development based on publicly available information. To this end, the BPDG HCP working team’s assay and knowledge-sharing experts have established a common HCP risk assessment tool and mitigation strategy to guide…

June 20, 2018