BioPharm International, June 2019 Issue (PDF)

The proposed business combination would create a publicly traded, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that will focus on developing a pipeline of next-generation cancer therapies.

In this episode, we explore BIOVECTRA’s capabilities in antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) manufacturing, from complex conjugation chemistry to synthesis of highly potent payloads. We’ll also showcase how BIOVECTRA’s extensive experience in complex chemistries and specialized small molecule manufacturing gives them a unique perspective, strengthening their approach to ADC production and ensuring clients receive custom solutions across all project stages.

The investment will be done over five years and will include new, state-of-the-art R&D facilities as well as new or expanded manufacturing sites in multiple US states.

Metabolic Flux Analysis (MFA) is a powerful technique used to characterize metabolic phenotype driving to improved productivity in biomanufacturing. MFA is most powerful when absolute concentrations of the metabolic intermediates are measured, but doing so in practice is often impractical due to inherent limitations of conventional absolute quantitation by mass spectral analysis. Recently, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have been applied to solving the problem of broad, untargeted, absolute quantitation in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). These new approaches extend readily to the determination of absolute concentrations of stable isotopically-labeled metabolic intermediates, offering a new tool for MFA. Dr Sam Yenne from Metalytics Inc., a company that specializes in the science of metabolic flux, has recently assessed and adopted Pyxis, a new tool for absolute quantitation of raw LC-MS data. Dr Yenne describes MFA, its utility in biopharmaceutical development, associated challenges and how Pyxis impacts those challenges.

Belantamab mafodotin is approved in combination with bortezomib plus dexamethasone in patients who have had at least one prior therapy, and in combination with pomalidomide plus dexamethasone for those who have had a prior therapy including lenalidomide.

Using cholesterol-modified oligonucleotides, the research team aims to improve the delivery of antisense nucleotide-based therapies for treating neurodegenerative diseases and brain cancers.