What’s the BuzZ about?
PepTalk’s BuzZ Sessions are focused, stimulating discussions in which delegates discuss important and interesting topics related to upstream protein expression and production through downstream scale-up and manufacturing. This is a moderated discussion with brainstorming and interactive problem-solving between scientists from diverse areas who share a common interest in the discussion topic. The discussions are scheduled for:
Tuesday 4:15 – 5:00 PM
BuzZ Table: Getting the Math Right: Adding and Subtracting Post-Translational Modifications (PTMs) to Recombinant Proteins
Moderator: Christopher Cooper, PhD, Director and Head of Protein Sciences, CHARM Therapeutics
- Choosing an appropriate QC method for your budget
- Moving on from biotinupcoming alternative protein labelling technologies
- Challenges in addition of site-specific PTMs (e.g. phosphorylation) and protein PTMs (e.g. ubiquitin, SUMO)
- Advances in (de)glycosylation and its analysis
BuzZ Table: Improving Membrane Protein Yield and Quality
Moderator: Neha Bhat, PhD, Sr Scientist, Biologics Discovery, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine
- Advancements in detergents and nanodisc technologies
- Emerging techniques to overcome instability
- High-throughput screening and process automation approaches
- Overcoming Glycosylation and Post-Translational Challenges
- Case studies and practical challenges
BuzZ Table: Balancing High-Throughput Expression with Data Capture/Analysis
Moderator: James Kostas, Senior Scientist, Protein and Structural Chemistry, Merck
- How do we track data captured at every stage of the protein production lifecycle?
- Is higher throughput ALWAYS better or does it just push the bottleneck downstream?
- How do we connect, analyze, and correlate data from different sources (instruments, databases, e-notebooks) in order to draw conclusions from our data?
- How do we effectively QC HT data?
- How can we use our data to reduce the number of samples in future design-test-make cycles?
BuzZ Table: Challenges in High-Throughput Production Platforms
Moderator: Kristoff Homan, PhD, Senior Principal Scientist, Discovery Biotherapeutics, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
- HT production approaches
- Incorporating AI/ML predictions into workflows
- Challenges with emerging modalities
- Functional assessment of molecules
BuzZ Table: Building the End-to-End Workflow in Analytical Development: Current and Future Technologies
Moderator: Kevin Zen, PhD, Director, Analytical Development, Opthea Limited
- High throughput analytics for developability workflow
- Immunogenicity prediction and ex vivo assays to assess immunogenicity
- Aggregation prediction and analytical technologies to assess aggregation propensity
- PTM prediction and analytical tools to assess molecular liability
- Balance between biological function and biophysical stability
BuzZ Table: AI and ML in Biotherapeutic Process Development and Manufacturing: Hype vs. Reality
Moderator: Carme Pons Royo, PhD, Postdoctoral Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Realistic Expectations: Where does AI/ML provide the most value and where does it fall short in bioprocessing.
- Feasibility: How practical are these tools for biologics manufacturing?
- Upstream Applications: Can AI/ML improve cell culture optimization, media selection, and yield prediction?
- Downstream Relevance: How AI can assist with purification, process scaling, and troubleshooting bottlenecks?
- Analytics and Monitoring: Using AI to predict product stability, aggregation, and monitor CQAs in continuous manufacturing.
- Integration Strategies: Practical tips for validating and embedding AI/ML models into existing workflows.
BuzZ Table: Challenges in the Production and Distribution of Short-Lived Radiopharmaceuticals
Moderator: Arshad Ahmed, Founder & CEO, Zaylan Associates
- Time constraints from production, QC to delivery
- Pros and cons of decentralized production
- The need for specialized production facilities and highly skilled personnel
- Regulatory compliance
- Supply chain logistics
- Waste management
Thursday 7:30 – 8:15 AM
BuzZ Table: Therapeutic Protein Production: Innovations and Best Practices
Moderator: Robert M. Hughes, PhD, Associate Professor, Chemistry, East Carolina University
- Construct Design and Misfolding Prevention
- Leveraging Machine Learning and Data Optimization
- Cell-Free Systems for Complex Protein Synthesis
BuzZ Table: Common Issues with Protein Production
Moderators:
Richard Altman, MS, Field Application Scientist, Life Science Solutions, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Henry C. Chiou, PhD, Senior Director General Manager, Biosciences, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Recently Retired)
- What are the current challenges to protein production?
- How do we optimize the whole protein expression workflow process?
- How can we maintain volumetric yields while scaling expression up or down?
- What cell line(s) should we use and when?
- What parameters can impact the quality or physical attributes of produced proteins?
- What are the obstacles and potential solutions for transient protein production?
BuzZ Table: Towards Wholly de novo Proteins
Moderator: Cole A. DeForest, PhD, Weyerhaeuser Endowed Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Washington
- Computational protein design
- Non-canonical amino acid incorporation via genetic code expansion
- Engineered cell lines and non-traditional expression hosts
BuzZ Table: Special Challenges in Routine Protein Production
Moderator: David Wood, PhD, Co-Founder, CSO, Protein Capture Science; Professor, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, The Ohio State University
- When you needed the protein yesterday - high pressure production
- How things change when this protein may be headed for the clinic
- Out of left field - strange things that proteins do, and what to do back
BuzZ Table: Machine Learning in Formulation Development for Biologics
Moderator: Li Fu, PhD, Senior Scientist, Parenteral Drug Product Development, Takeda
- Different modalities and prediction for more quality attributes: identifying missing data
- Challenges of applying ML in developability and formulation development
- Structural determination and homology modeling
- New tools and methodologies, and their combination with physical models
BuzZ Table: Multiple Challenges for Multispecific Antibodies
Moderator: Meghan M. Verstraete, PhD, Scientist, Protein Engineering, Zymeworks, Inc.
- Prioritizing parameters to screen in early discovery (format, paratopes, affinity, valency, etc.)
- Purification and characterization of multispecific antibodies and product-related impurities
- Challenges with benchmarking developability criteria for multispecific antibodies
- Pros and cons of multispecific antibody therapeutics vs. combination of bispecific/monospecific therapeutics
BuzZ Table: Multispecific
Antibody Design and Production Strategies for Maximizing Target and Tissue
Selectivity
Moderator: Andy Goodrich, PhD, Associate Director, Biologics, Epibiologics
- Protein design and degrader selection strategies to enhance tissue selectivity
- Antibody developability assessments to ensure specificity and drug-like properties
- Multispecific protein production and purification from screening through manufacturing
BuzZ Table: Improving Target Specificity and Reducing Off-Target Effects
Moderator: Sungjin Lee, PhD, Associate Director, Surrozen Inc
- Design strategies to enhance selectivity
- Minimizing off-target degradation
- Incorporating machine learning and AI into selectivity optimization
- Evaluating In Vivo vs. In Vitro Specificity
These are forums for open discussion of protein-related challenges, and not sales opportunities. We emphasize that these breakout groups are for interactive discussions among scientists and are not meant to be, in any way, a corporate or product discussion. Topics can be limited to one protein area or may address issues which cross over the borders between pipeline conference topics. Moderators should be well-versed in the topic area and able to keep the discussion focused and productive. BuzZ Sessions are IN-PERSON ONLY.
If you are interested in moderating a breakout group, contact Mary Ann Brown at mabrown@healthtech.com
Continue to check back for topics updates.