15
Downstream
thirty seven
The Recovery of Biological Products XI
Banff
Canada
Sept 14 19, 2003
Banff, Alberta, at the foothills of the impressive Canadian Rocky
mountains was the setting for the eleventh Recovery of Biological
Products (RXI) meeting. Impressive too was the Canadian hospitality
throughout the week, providing a pleasant background to what is
surely the foremost conference series in our field.
The quality of papers at RXI was high and the subjects covered were
both interesting and relevant. Most appreciated was the degree of
openness shown by an industry that can certainly benefit from the
spread of best practices. RXI provided a balanced mix of
contributions from academia and industry showing that good science
is stimulating wherever it comes from. The oral programme was
divided into a number of theme areas with 4 or 5 papers in each area
followed by questions. There were also workshops which had short
reviews followed by open discussions. Finally, there was a large
number of posters on display throughout the meeting, always
surrounded by crowds of interested readers.
The conference started and finished with a focus on hydrophobic
interaction chromatography (HIC). On Monday, Todd Przybycien
(Carnegie Mellon University) and Erik Fernandez (University of
Virginia) explained what many of us have suspected - that proteins
tend to misbehave in the presence of hydrophobic ligands. At the end
of the conference (Friday), Jon Coffman (Wyeth BioPharma) returned
to the HIC theme with an elegant study using microtitre plates for
method development. Jim van Alstine (Amersham Biosciences), in the
final paper, showed how novel designs can address some of the
inherent problems related to traditional HIC media.
Returning to Monday, Oguz Ersoy (Amersham Biosciences) updated
the audience on approaches to ligand design for affinity
chromatography, presenting results targeted at Fab fragments. Later,
Pete Gagnon (Validated Biosystems) gave a provocative introduction
to a session on affinity chromatography for monoclonal antibody
purification. Jörg Thömmes (IDEC Pharmaceuticals) in a conference
highlight kept everyone awake with his demonstration that simulated
moving bed chromatography with protein A media was feasible for
Mab capture. The pro's and con's of this approach were the subject of
lively debate.
On Tuesday, in the session on Primary Recovery and Process
Integration, Maria Kula (Heinrich Heine University) explained how to
predict easy and difficult feedstocks for expanded bed adsorption.
Zeta potential was found to be a particularly useful measurement.
Recovery in the Post-Genomic Era was the next topic and provided a
mix of papers covering affinity fusion tags, methods for studying
protein properties in parallel, and directed evolution to design
proteins for easier recovery. Gerardo Zapata (Abgenix) described how
to approach purification of multiple antibody, antigen and fusion
protein targets, giving an insight into the advantages of a generic
tool-box approach and the importance of a good digital
documentation system. The day was rounded off by a number of
parallel workshops - the one on ion exchange theory and practice,
organised by Robert van Reis (Genentech) and Lars Hagel (Amersham
Biosciences), was fascinating.
Wednesday's sessions covered Industrial Case Studies and Novel
Recovery Methods. Subjects varied widely including protein re-
folding, centrifugation, monolithic chromatography matrices, llama
antibodies and pegylation. The evening workshop drew attention to
the relationship between industry and academia. Thursday brought
fascinating insights into the trials and tribulations of regular
production and covered issues related to EnbrelTM (Hassan Madani,
Amgen), ThyrogenTM (Ned Cole, Genzyme Corporation), RemicadeTM
(Andy Ramelmeier, Centocor), ForteoTM, XigrisTM (Morrey Atkinson, Eli
Lilly) and AmeviveTM (Dane Zabriskie, Biogen). In addition Greg Blank
(Genentech) stepped in at the last minute and gave a fine overview
of validation issues related to production of proteins.
Friday continued with more case studies and more insights. Life isn't
often easy when bringing biopharmaceuticals to market. Roger Hart
(Amgen) described how decisions have to be made based on
assumptions of commercial success which don't always turn out. Jeff
Plomer (Baxter) described the almost heroic efforts to get large scale
haemoglobin as a viable product. There were many innovative
approaches that in the end were in vain as the product was never
brought to market. Then Rhona O'Leary (Genentech) lifted the
audience again with challenges and successes related to post
approval changes in the production process for HerceptinTM.
All-in-all RXI left a very good taste and most of us returned with a
feeling of optimism for the industry and renewed strength to meet
the challenges we face back home. The next Recovery meeting won't
be until spring 2006, so we will have to find other ways to revitalise
our spirits in the meantime. Inger Möllerup (Novo Nordisk), Jörg
Thömmes (IDEC Pharmaceuticals) and Brian Kelley (Wyeth BiPharma)
will surely do an excellent job with the program.
Meeting
report
