Upcoming Courses

Antibody Purification, A Practical Hands-on Course
Norfolk, Virginia, October 4–6, 2006

We have worked closely with the Williamsburg Bioprocessing Foundation for several years to develop a highly focused practical course on purification of monoclonal antibodies. The course is team taught by Pete Gagnon and technical experts from various chromatography media vendors. The first day is filled with classroom lectures on major methods of antibody purification and basic principles of purification process development. On the second and third days, participants are divided into 4 teams, each of which is provided a fully equipped lab station to develop a complete purification process with authentic monoclonal antibody. On day 2, each team is assigned a method to optimize, for example hdyrophobic interaction, cation exchange, hydroxyapatite, or mixed mode. Participating vendors bring their latest purification products for the teams to evaluate. Each team presents its results at the end of the day. On day 3, each team runs a complete purification beginning with affinity capture, the intermediate step of their choice, and a flow-through anion exchange step. Teams present their procedures and results for discussion at the end of the day.

This course is intense but lots of fun, and every time we've taught it, every team has developed a successful purification. Enrollment is limited to 16 participants to ensure that we can give you all the attention you need to get the most out of the course. This course fills up fast so don't wait. If enrollment is already full, ask to be listed as an alternate.

Virus Purification, A Practical Hands-on Course
Norfolk, Virginia, October 9–11, 2006

This course follows the same organizational framework as Antibody Purification. Lectures cover the same chemical fractionation methods but with emphasis and examples on virus applications. Authentic virus sample is used for the lab phase, typically empty capsid AAV2. The purification tools employed in the lab are specialized for virus rather than protein applications.

Bulletproof Purification Process Development: Developing Robust Manufacturing Procedures for Protein and Viral Therapeutics
Developed and taught by Pete Gagnon

Syllabus

This intermediate/advanced 3-day lecture course is designed for professionals who want a thorough understanding of developing purification procedures capable of withstanding the rigors of a highly regulated manufacturing environment. This course is unique in its practical approach, based on more than 25 years of hands-on experience in downstream processing. Participants will obtain an integrated understanding of product chemistry, chemistry and behavior of major contaminant classes, how major purification methods exploit the physicochemical differences between product and contaminants, the strengths and weaknesses of major purification methods, fundamentals of process development, and building process control into manufacturing processes. This course will provide practical new tools to process developers at all levels, as well as support a deeper appreciation of process design by manufacturing process operators, quality control, quality assurance, and regulatory staff. Familiarity with fundamentals of biochemistry, purification methods, and previous hands-on experience will be helpful.

We generally offer this course in your facilities, anywhere in the world, when it is convenient for you. Contact us for details.