January-February 2019

The Changing Landscape of Single Use in Bioprocessing: An Interview with Stefan Schlack and Jean-Marc Cappia

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Single use in bioprocessing has changed significantly in recent years. To find out how a leading supplier to the biopharmaceutical industry is redefining its technology to align with new market challenges, science writer, Sue Pearson, had the opportunity to interview Stefan Schlack, Head of Bioprocess Marketing, and Jean-Marc Cappia, Head of Segment Marketing Vaccines, both at Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB) in Goettingen, Germany. Redefining Single Use Pearson: Sartorius Stedim Biotech is a recognized leader in single-use technology, and you’ve recently…

February 12, 2019

Ask the Expert: Preparing for and Managing Regulatory Inspections

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An “Ask the Expert†webinar on 27 November 2018 featured Ray Marzouk, vice president of quality at Avid Bioservices, a biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) in Orange County, CA. With six successful preapproval inspections behind it, Avid prides itself on a 13-year industry-leading regulatory track record. Marzouk’s Presentation Preparing for the Inspection: Implement a standard operating procedure (SOP) for inspections that includes instructions for the receptionist, host, scribe, subject matter experts (SMEs), and document finders. Prepare SMEs for…

February 12, 2019

Ask the Expert: Custom Media Services: Bioproduction Media Optimization Through Spent-Media Analysis

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On 29 November 2018, Matthew Smonskey (senior scientist in the Gibco Custom Media Services team at Thermo Fisher Scientific) presented an “Ask the Expert†webinar on resources available to help developers identify media limitations and options for designing custom media formulations that maximize protein yield. Smonskey’s Presentation  Gibco’s goal is to solve its clients’ bioproduction problems: e.g., creating a chemically defined medium, increasing end-point titer, modifying protein quality attributes, and so on. Designing custom media using spent-media analysis might solve…

February 11, 2019

Ask the Expert: A Modular Chromatography Platform with a Lattice-Supported Bed

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In an Ask-the-Expert webinar on 4 December 2018, Jason Chiu (product marketing scientist at JSR Life Sciences) introduced the Chromassette chromatography cassette platform. This stackable, modular technology and resin-support device presents a productive and disposable process that can scale to any volume using any resin. An internal scaffold provides a uniquely supported resin bed, and the system is fully interchangeable with conventional column formats. Chiu’s Presentation The Chromassette platform offers linear scalability, superior pressure-flow properties, high-productivity separations, and rapid and…

February 11, 2019

Elucidation: Better Biomarkers Could Power Precision Medicine for Autoimmune Disease

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Precision medicine has long been a tantalizing goal for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Fields such as oncology and rare diseases have benefited greatly from implementation of genome-guided care. Drug developers likewise have made strides with biomarker-aided discovery programs and stratification for clinical trials. Current indications suggest that autoimmune diseases will be the next major focus of personalized medicine. The goal of precision medicine often is described as “getting the right drug to the right patient at the right time. 

February 11, 2019