The biopharmaceutical market accounts for about 20% of the total market for pharmaceuticals, but its share continues to increase because of double-digit compound annual growth rates leading to projections that by 2014 eight of the top 10 best-selling drugs will be biologics (1). The industry faces many challenges and opportunities, as Jim Davies of Lonza Biologics explained to me: “Biomanufacturers have to contend with what is at present a dynamic technical and commercial landscape. Industry consolidation continues to occur as…
Manufacturing
NIR Spectroscopy Analysis of Phosphate Salts
Confirmation of raw material quality is a vital part of biopharmaceutical manufacturing processing. Incorrect or poor-quality vendor materials account for a considerable portion of failed and recalled product. To prevent these expensive problems, strict quality control (QC) procedures are often implemented and used to screen for inappropriate incoming materials. QC procedures commonly used are chemical tests that involve removing samples to a laboratory and performing, which can at times be complex, time-consuming, and laborious protocols. A common test procedure that…
Navigating the Biopharmaceutical Regulatory Pathway: Replacing Undefined Raw Materials with Chemically-defined Substitutes
With market demands increasing, biopharmaceutical producers are constantly looking for ways to enhance product quality while reducing costs and risk. One way to meet these changing demands is to replace animal-derived supplements with chemically-defined substitutes. In this educational webcast, Dr. Michael Titus, Director of Quality Management and Regulatory Compliance with BD Biosciences, outlines the regulatory pathway involved in making such a switch. Dr. Titus will discuss:
• A background on the uses of supplements in the cell culture production process;
• Change control & risk management;
• And the regulatory path of making the switch to chemically-defined supplements.
Join Dr. Titus as he demonstrates how chemically-defined supplements can boost performance, reduce risk and increase consistency in commercially marketed biopharmaceutical products.
Blank Slate Biomanufacturing: Designing the Ideal Operation from a Blank Sheet of Paper
If you could start with a blank sheet of paper, what would your biomanufacturing operation look like? Robust, adaptable, cost-effective and efficient probably come to mind, but how do you get there? In this educational webcast, Parrish Galliher, Founder and CTO of Xcellerex, takes an in-depth look at the strategies involved in designing the ideal biomanufacturing facility from a blank slate. You’ll learn how to optimize your operation to:
• Increase Speed
• Enhance Flexibility
• Decrease Risk
• Improve Economics
View this webcast to discover the steps for maximizing your biomanufacturing process.
Key Aspects of Managing Early Phase Development Programs for Long Term Success
From selection of a cell line to release of the first clinical batch, product and process developers make decisions that have timeline, financial, and regulatory consequences. As contract manufacturing becomes the norm rather than the exception in our industry, it is important that a Sponsor and CMO make the best use of each other’s expertise for maximum benefit to product and patients. In this presentation, Dr. George Koch, Chief Scientific Officer for Contract Manufacturing and Director of Project Management with Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, provides insight into:
• Selecting a CMO
• Process and Method Development
• The First Tox Lots
• The First Clinical Lots
View this on-demand educational webcast to learn more about manufacturing best practices for preclinical activities.
Fill, Finish and Testing of Phase I/II Drug Products
Florida Biologix, a full service CMO for Phase I/II biologics, has significant experience with a variety of aseptic liquid fill projects. This presentation walks you through key considerations and decisions you will need to make when outsourcing a fill. This webcast discusses the major considerations involved in the process, such as:
• Timeline
• Component, Volume & Testing
• Documentation
• Execution
• Shipping, Handling and Storage
The presentation provides information that anyone looking to outsource a clinical batch liquid fill needs to know to help ensure a successful outcome.
Intellectual Property Protection in the Digital Age
For most biotechnology and biopharmaceutical organizations, “business as usual†means a perpetual race to the finish line: Conceive a new invention, reduce it to practice, attain patent protection, repeat ad infinitum. But sometimes, the very technologies scientists use to expedite that chain of events (e.g., electronic laboratory notebooks and cloud-based laboratory data sharing) create security and authenticity holes. In essence, the more agile and sophisticated our work flow systems become, the more difficult it becomes to guarantee the…
Optimizing Cryopreservation for Therapeutic Cells
Biopreservation suppresses degradation and enables postpreservation recovery of structure, viability, and function. Although there are several biopreservation techniques (indicated in “Biopreservation Methods†box), most laboratories use either standard cryopreservation protocols (the far majority) or vitrification (much more limited in broad systems application) when freezing cells for research and clinical applications. Isopropanol freezing containers such as the Mr. Frosty device from Nalgene Labware have made cryopreservation easier in many applications, and controlled-rate freezers allow users to program and manipulate…
Development of an In-House, Process-Specific ELISA for Detecting HCP in a Therapeutic Antibody, Part 2
During biopharmaceutical manufacturing, final drug products can get contaminated with host-cell proteins (HCPs) derived from a production cell line. HCPs can elicit adverse immune responses, so regulatory authorities require accurate monitoring of their presence and concentration in final drug products. Because they are robust and offer good throughput, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) are the first choice for HCP detection to monitor product quality. Generic ELISA kits are commercially available for HCP detection with a number of commonly used…
Where Will Technology Take Cell Therapy?
The cell therapy industry’s biggest challenge is in manufacturing. Technologies are needed to support expansion of large numbers of cells for commercial production. A number of sources are presenting options: e.g., standard two-dimensional tissue cultures that “grow up†to Corning HYPERFlask and CellSTACK or Nunc Cell Factory systems; hollow-fiber–based equipment; and disposable bags and traditional stirred-tank bioreactors. Each has its place and application, but how can companies choose among them? Where and when do they initiate scale-up process…