Tag Archives: Catalent Pharma Solutions

Senior Director of Biotechnology at Catalent To Lead Immunogenicity Course

Ana T. Menendez, Ph.D., Senior Director of Biotechnology at Catalent Pharma Solutions, will lead a two-day international course on immunogenicity. The course will take place at the Regus Victoria in London on Wednesday, December 2 through Thursday, December 3, 2009.

The interactive course, titled “Introduction to Immunogenicity,” will enable attendees to better understand ways to detect, reduce and characterize unwanted immunogenicity. Additionally, Menendez will aid in interpreting the latest regulatory guidelines, and will assist attendees in formulating a winning strategy to implement in their business immediately.

The sessions will include a formal presentation by Menendez followed by facilitated breakout groups where delegates will be given the opportunity to apply the principles taught in the sections. Case studies, cut-point exercises and protocol workshops will increase the participants’ hands-on experience in developing and validating sensitive and rugged methods to detect and characterize unwanted immunogenicity.

As part of Catalent’s Development and Clinical Services Segment, Dr. Menendez is responsible for the release tests required to verify the functionality and purity of biotechnology products and the complex processes involved in their manufacture. Menendez implemented biotesting at Catalent and currently leads the following laboratories at the North Carolina Research Triangle Park facility: Cellular Technologies, Molecular Technologies, Virology and Analytical Biosafety. The expertise of the department ranges from proteins (i.e., monoclonal antibodies, enzymes, growth factors) to therapeutic viruses, bacterial vaccines and aptamers. Menenedez is an international instructor on bioassay development and validation and a frequent speaker at biopharmaceutical conferences.

For more information on Catalent’s broad range of drug and biologic development services, go to www.catalent.com/development.

Via EPR Network
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Senior Director of Biotechnology at Catalent To Present Course on Bioassays

Ana T. Menendez, Ph.D., Senior Director of Biotechnology at Catalent Pharma Solutions, will be leading a course in Bioassay Method Development and Validation. The course is being offered through IBC Life Science on November 12-13, 2009 in Boston, MA.

Menendez will present a lecture outlining sensible approaches to developing reproducible bioassays using live systems and/or biologically derived reagents. Additionally, Menendez will conduct a workshop on writing validation protocols, and will give participants hands-on experience and case studies, which will add relevance to lecture material as well as create a point of discussion. Targeted audiences are bio-analytical scientists, validation specialists, project management leaders and bioassay scientists involved in bioassay execution. Upon completion of the course, participants will receive a certificate of attendance.

Bioassays are necessary components of the biopharmaceutical development process as functional potency assays during release, stability and formulation studies. The course expands on the importance of the appropriate use of non-analytical techniques that are critical during PK/PD evaluation and measurement of systematic responses to drugs, such as immunogenicity. Also included are immunological and enzymatic methods that are widely used in the detection of biological impurities due to their increased sensitivity and specificity over analytical methods.

As part of Catalent’s Development and Clinical Services segment, Dr. Menendez is responsible for the release tests required to verify the functionality and purity of biotechnology products and the complex processes involved in their manufacture. Menendez implemented biotesting at Catalent and currently leads the following laboratories at the North Carolina Research Triangle Park facility: Cellular Technologies, Molecular Technologies, Virology and Analytical Biosafety. The expertise of the department ranges from proteins (i.e., monoclonal antibodies, enzymes, growth factors) to therapeutic viruses, bacterial vaccines and aptamers. Menendez is an international instructor on bioassay development and validation and a frequent speaker at biopharmaceutical conferences.

For more information on Catalent’s broad range of drug and biologic development services, go to www.catalent.com/development.

Via EPR Network
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Senior Director of Biotechnology at Catalent To Lead Workshop on Immunogenicity for Biologics 2009

Ana T. Menendez, Ph.D., Senior Director of Biotechnology at Catalent Pharma Solutions, will be teaching a pre-conference workshop titled “Detection and Characterization of Immunogenicity of Therapeutic Biologics” on Monday, September 7, 2009 in Prague, Czech Republic. The course will focus on the practical technologies used to measure antibody responses to biologic drugs. The pre-conference begins at 10:00 a.m. The Immunogenicity for Biologics 2009 conference will be held on September 8-9, and will include additional discussion on outstanding technical issues, such as standardization and validation of assays as well as the interpretation and application of regulatory guidelines.

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As part of Catalent’s Respiratory, Analytical and Biotechnology group, Dr. Menendez is responsible for the release tests required to verify the functionality and purity of biotechnology products and the complex processes involved in their manufacture. Menendez implemented biotesting at Catalent and currently leads the following laboratories at the North Carolina Research Triangle Park facility: Cellular Technologies, Molecular Technologies, Virology and Analytical Biosafety. The expertise of the department ranges from proteins (i.e., monoclonal antibodies, enzymes, growth factors) to therapeutic viruses, bacterial vaccines and aptamers. Menendez is an international instructor on Bioassay Development and Validation and a frequent speaker at biopharmaceutical conferences.

The Immunogenicity for Biologics 2009 conference will cover case studies on assay challenges, FDA and European submissions IgG4 and IgE, pre-clinical and clinical strategies and aggregation. Participants will benefit from practical advice on the design and validation of neutralizing assays.

About Catalent
Headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, Catalent Pharma Solutions is a leading provider of advanced dose form and packaging technologies, and development, manufacturing and packaging services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consumer healthcare companies in nearly 100 countries. Catalent applies its local market expertise and technical creativity to advance treatments, change markets and enhance patient outcomes. Catalent employs approximately 9,500 at more than 30 facilities worldwide and in fiscal 2008 generated more than $1.8 billion in annual revenue. For more information, visit http://www.catalent.com.

Via EPR Network
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Catalent Scientist’s Article Featured by Biotechnology Industry Organization

An article written by Ana T. Menendez, Ph.D., Senior Director of Biotechnology at Catalent Pharma Solutions, was featured in the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s (BIO) March 2009 e-Newsletter. The article, titled “A Guide to Accelerating Bioassay Transfer in the GMP Environment,” highlights important questions and steps to set timelines and prepare for a successful bioassay transfer. Dr. Menendez’s work, along with a number of articles written by industry leaders, is being offered for free download on BIO’s website – www.bio.org.

According to Dr. Menendez, “Setting realistic timetables, creating thorough documentation to transfer bioassays between organizations, and working with a highly qualified CRO are the keys to streamlining the production of biologics and accelerating their time to market.” Her article goes on to provide guidelines to help increase clarity in setting timelines, along with illustrative case studies where delays could have been avoided.

As part of Catalent’s Respiratory, Analytical and Biotechnology group, Dr. Menendez is responsible for the release tests required to verify the functionality and purity of biotechnology products and the complex processes involved in their manufacture. Dr. Menendez implemented biotesting at Catalent and currently leads the following laboratories at the North Carolina Research Triangle Park facility: Cellular Technologies, Molecular Technologies, Virology and Analytical Biosafety. The expertise of the department ranges from proteins (i.e., monoclonal antibodies, enzymes, growth factors) to therapeutic viruses, bacterial vaccines and aptamers. Dr. Menenedez is an international instructor on Bioassay Development and Validation and a frequent speaker at biopharmaceutical conferences.

About Catalent
Headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, Catalent Pharma Solutions is a leading provider of advanced dose form and packaging technologies, and development, manufacturing and packaging services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consumer healthcare companies in nearly 100 countries. Catalent applies its local market expertise and technical creativity to advance treatments, change markets and enhance patient outcomes. Catalent employs approximately 9,100 at more than 30 facilities worldwide and in fiscal 2008 generated more than $1.8 billion of annual revenue. For more information, visit www.catalent.com.

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Dr. Greg Bleck Of Catalent Pharma Solutions, Will Present At The 2nd International Cell Engineering Conference

Dr. Greg Bleck, the senior director of cell line engineering at Catalent Pharma Solutions, will present this week at the 2nd International Cell Engineering Conference to be held in Santa Barbara, C.A., December 2-4, 2008. The conference will include presentations by leading pharmaceutical companies, small biotech organizations, academics, and key technology supply firms covering the latest advancements in cell line development. Special emphasis will be placed on the reliability and reproducibility of the more promising cell engineering techniques. The conference is produced by the Williamsburg BioProcessing Foundation.

Dr. Bleck’s presentation is titled “Generation of Stable-High Expressing Mammalian Cell Lines in Four Months without Antibiotic Selection or Gene Amplification Using GPEx®.” Catalent’s proprietary GPEx® technique for cell line engineering allows high-expressing, genetically stable cells for any mammalian cell type to be produced without antibiotic selection or gene amplification. The lack of selection and amplification allows these master cell bank candidate cell lines to be made in four months, and permits research and development scientists to contemplate new paths for improved expression of their proteins. The candidate cell lines range in specific productivities from 30-95 picograms/cell/day for antibodies and have reached as high as 50-70 picograms/cell/day for some recombinant protein producing cell lines. Cell lines producing over 150 different antibodies and 40 different recombinant proteins have been developed with GPEx®. Data showing the consistency and speed of the technology, as well as the stability and productivity of the cell lines will be presented.

About Catalent
Headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, Catalent is one of the leading providers of advanced dose form and packaging technologies, and development, manufacturing and packaging services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consumer health companies in nearly 100 countries. Catalent applies its local market expertise and technical creativity to advance treatments, change markets and enhance patient outcomes. Catalent employs approximately 9,500 at more than 30 facilities worldwide and generates more than $1.8 billion of annual revenue. For more information, visit www.catalent.com.

Via EPR Network
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