Inside Washington: User Fee Program Seeks to Spur Biotech Development

Susan J. Schniepp, distinguished fellow at Regulatory Compliance Associates, and Rona LeBlanc-Rivera, PhD, principal consultant, Regulatory Affairs at Regulatory Compliance Associates, answer some questions about FDA’s January 2025 21 CFR 211.110 guidance document.

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.

Officially launched at INTERPHEX 2025, the Omni ASCENT is a next-generation off-site manufactured vertical utility solution that offers optimized cleanroom flexibility and efficiency.

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.

Martin A. Makary, confirmed by a bipartisan vote of the US Senate, has been sworn in as FDA’s new commissioner.

The company said the Stratyx 250 is the first bioreactor of its kind to offer biotech companies a combination of automation, remote process control, and flexibility.