ESACT 2024 Registration

Registration is now open for the 28th European Society for Animal Cell Technology Meeting

Edinburgh from 23 – 26 June 2024 

Call for abstaracts is now closed
Early bird registration deadline 3rd April

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20th Anniversary bioProcessUK Conference

Brighton – 28-30th November 2023

The #bioProcessUK conference will be returning for its 20th anniversary taking place on 28-30 November 2023 in Brighton!

As in previous years, the event will include pre-conference drinks, a two-day conference, dinner at the end of the first conference day, an exhibition, awards, student posters and one-to-one partnering.

At the conference, you will have the opportunity to make or strengthen important business connections, hear the latest bioprocessing news and learn from high profile speakers, vote for the best Dragon’s Den pitch (look out for the Dragon’s Den session on the programme) and the best student poster.

REGISTER HERE & FURTHER DETAILS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to our BioProNET2 2023 Prize Winners 

POSTER PRIZE WINNERS
Dial-A-Sugar: Developing Actuators for Real-Time mAb Glycosylation Control in CHO Cells, Sheryl Lim Li Yan [1] Apostolos Tsopanoglou[1], Rajinder Kaur[1], Mina Ghahremanzamaneh[1], Alfonso Blanco[2], Ioscani Jiménez del Val[1]. [1] School of Chemical & Bioprocess Engineering, University College Dublin, [2] Flow Cytometry Core Technologies, Conway Institute, University College Dublin

Optimising transposon integration for improved pool recovery and biotherapeutic production in CHO cells. James Fleming, Tanaya Surve, Ana Rebocho, Delphine Cougot, Elena Tuccori, Jesus Zurdo. Horizon Discovery, Cambridge.

Use of hybrid Mass Spectrometry methods to probe the structural flexibility of monoclonal antibody biotherapeutics across their production line. Emilia Christofi[1], Jeff Keen[2], Arghya Barman[2], Tibor Nagy[2], Perdita Barran[1]. [1] University of Manchester, [2] Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, Billingham.

SHORT PRSENTATION WINNER
Towards Process Automation in Upstream Biopharmaceutical Processing using Model Predictive Control. Thomas Kavanagh [1], Pavlos Kotidis [2], Sameer Talwar [2], Yu Luo [2], Paloma Diaz-Fernandez [2], Michele Albanese [2], Katy Newell [2], Maria M. Papathanasiou [1], Cleo Kontoravdi [1]. [1] Imperial College London, [2] GSK, UK.

 

BioProNET2 2023 Annual Meeting

BioProNET2 (www.biopronetuk.org) will reach a landmark 10th Annual Scientific Symposium this year. We will again be hosted by GSK at Stevenage and have a packed and exciting programme that will bring the sector together to engage with recent advances in our capabilities to make biological medicines. The outline programme below illustrates the depth and breadth of innovative research findings and how the academic and industrial communities are applying new technologies. Great speakers, fascinating topics, visions of developing research themes, opportunities for early career talks and posters  ..…… join us and participate, network and learn on 11/12 October 2023. The deadline for poster submissions and ECR talks is now closed.

The pre-meeting Early Career Workshop will provide opportunities to hear from industry, academic and recruitment experts to gain insights into maximising your career opportunities both in and out of the lab and will include short talks followed by open discussion with our expert panel.

Registration to attend the meeting is £150 and a reduced rate of £50 for student members (non-refundable) and this covers your attendance at the science meeting (and the ECR workshop, if applicable) as well as refreshments and lunches each day. The meeting drinks reception/dinner will be held at the Cromwell Hotel on the evening of October 11th with an additional cost of £50. 

The deadline for registration is October 3rd so REGISTER HERE NOW !!

LINK to hotels nearby should you require accommodation.

 

DAY 1, WEDNESDAY 11th

11.00-12.30 – Early Careers Workshop
Andre Voelzman (University of Hull)
Ricky Martin (Managing Director, Hyper Recruitment Solutions)
Holly Corrigall (Team Leader-Cell Line Engineering, GSK)
Jasber Bhogal (Patent Attorney, GSK)
Nicholas Barber (Programme Manager MCC, FDBK)

12.30-13.00 – Lunch

13.00-14.30 – Session 1 – Imagination – where does it take us

David Humphreys (UCB)
Innovation drug discovery: past, present and future
Joseph Egan (short presentation, UCL)
Miguel Chalermkiart Youngthong (short presentation, UCL)
Dave Hilton (GSK)
Case study challenges in manufacture of novel format biotherapeutics
Richard Williams (Crescendo Biologics)
Novel T cell enhancing therapeutics in immune-oncology

14.45-16.30 – Break & POSTER SESSION

16:30-18.00 – Session 2 – Products/ process – predicting success

Simon Moore (Queens University, London)
Leveraging the power of cell-free systems for industrial synthetic biology
Matthew Banner (short presentation, UCL)
Georgina Armstrong (short presentation, University of Strathclyde)
Steffi Frank (University College London)
Protein platforms for enhanced vaccine manufacture
Lucia Marucci (University of Bristol)
Programming cells using whole-cell modelling and feedback control

19.30- 22.00 – Drinks reception & Conference dinner

DAY 2, THURSDAY 12^th

09.00-10.30  – Session 3  – New products – effective formats

Carlos Outeiral Rubiera (University of Oxford)
Codon language models for protein engineering.
Monika Tomecka (short presentation, uFraction8)
Thomas Kavanagh (short presentation, Imperial College London)
David Brockwell (University of Leeds) 
Using E. coli to map and understand protein aggregation landscapes
Talia Shmool (Imperial College, London)
Rationally Designed Ionic Liquid-Based Carriers for Improved Delivery and Storage Stability of Therapeutics

10.30-11.30 – Break & POSTER SESSION

11.30-13.00 – Session 4  – Improving the system/ process

Niall Barron (NIBRT, Ireland)
Modifying mRNA to enhance recombinant protein and viral vector production in mammalian cells
Cristina Abascal Ruiz (short presentation, University College Dublin)
Natalia Papalamprou (short presentation, Lonza)
Luigi Grassi (AstraZeneca)
Next generation sequencing to monitor critical quality attributes of biotherapeutics
Bjorn Voldborg (DTU, Denmark)
Engineering CHO cells for improved production of biologics

13.00-13.45 – Lunch

13.45-15.15 – Session 5 – Deep dive into the system/ processes

Mike Betenbaugh (Johns Hopkins University, US)
Addressing Biomanufacturing R&D Challenges through the AMBIC Center Initiative
Ellie Hawke (short presentation, University of Manchester)
Zeynep Betts (short presentation, University of Manchester)
Maria Papathanasiou (Imperial College London)
Embedding Sustainability in Process Design and Product Distribution
Lynne Regan (University of Edinburgh)
Identifying better enzymes – An application of cell-free protein synthesis & microfluidics

15.15-15.30 – Meeting close and awards for poster presentations

BioProNET2 Steering Group: Paul Dalby (UCL), Alan Dickson (University of Manchester), Jo Flannelly (University of Manchester), Cleo Kontoravdi (Imperial College), Mark Smales (University of Kent). The steering group includes representatives of AstraZeneca, Cell & Gene Therapy Catapult, Charles River Ltd, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, GSK, Sanofi, Lonza Biologics, Pharmaron, Pall Corporation and UCB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BioProNET2 – 9^th Annual Science Meeting
GSK, Gunnels Wood Road, Stevenage, October 11^th-12^th 2022

LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER !!

BioProNET2 Annual Science meeting returns to a face-to-face format this year. In addition to invited oral presentations from key industrial and academic groups, there will also be poster sessions with plenty of time for networking.

Sessions include:

• Early Careers Session (Oct 11th – 11:00-12:30)
• Cell Engineering (Oct 11th – 13:00-14:30)
• Cell culture and process control (Oct 11^th – 16:00-17:30)
• Heterogeneity is the essence of manufacture (Oct 12^th – 09:00-10:30)
• QbD for analytics (Oct 12^th – 11:30-13:00)
• 10 years from now – what does the future hold (Oct 12^th – 13:45-15:15)
• Three dedicated poster viewing sessions

 SEE THE FULL PROGRAMME AND YOU CAN REGISTER HERE NOW !!

Registration to attend the meeting is £100 (non-refundable) and this covers your attendance at the science meeting (and the ECR workshop, if applicable) as well as refreshments and lunches each day. The meeting drinks reception/dinner will be held on the evening of October 11^th with an additional cost of £50.
Please note that registration will close once all places (150) are taken, or 30^th September (whichever is earlier).

 

LINK to hotels nearby should you require accommodation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 SAVE THE DATE – 26-29 June 2022

Registration is open https://esact2022.com/index.php/welcome

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BBSRC Networks help Holiferm turn greentech breakthrough into growing business

University of Manchester spinout Holiferm is justifiably upbeat about the future. Its novel method for making a key ingredient of everyday household products avoids fossil fuel-based feedstocks. The resulting ingredient is both biodegradable and low in ecotoxicity – opening pathways to major global markets. It’s taken just eight years to get here, driven by the energy and ingenuity of PhD student Ben Dolman and his supervisor Dr James Winterburn. BBSRC Networks in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy (NIBB) helped them develop contacts that proved crucial to this classic clean-growth success story, which now includes a strategic agreement with one of the world’s biggest chemical producers.

Key impacts

• Innovative lower-cost process for turning renewable feedstocks into biodegradable surfactants successfully brought to market.
• The NIBB provided targeted support at critical points in the emergence of Holiferm, the spinout created from the breakthrough.
• Over £1 million of investment already secured in the company.
• Rapidly growing workforce, with 14 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs and rising at the Manchester/Daresbury-based firm.
• Holiferm set to reach industrial-scale production capacity in 2022, providing a significant, environmentally friendly boost to decarbonisation of the chemicals sector.

 

Full story can be found on BBSRC website https://bbsrc.ukri.org/research/impact/bbsrc-networks-help-holiferm-turn-greentech-breakthrough-into-growing-business/

ESACT-UK 2021 – Registration open – FREE to attend

 

 

 

 

 

BioProNET2, 7th Annual Scientific Meeting
November 19/20 2020

This years’ symposium will be virtual, covering the entire range of production and manufacture of biological modalities (expression-process-analytics).  Presentations will be delivered in short sessions, starting on the afternoon of November 19th and throughout November 20th. A short poster session will run on November 20th.

The meeting is free to attend and you can register HERE

FULL PROGRAMME

Thursday November 19^th      
Bioprocessing perspectives for COVID-19 (14.00- 15:50)

• Antu Dey (IAVI)
• Paul Davis (Mologic Ltd)
• Robin Shattock (Imperial College London) 
• Simon Carding (Quadram Institute)

Friday November 20th
Good analytics make or break the process  (09.30- 11:00)        

• Marc Olivier Baradez (Cell & Gene Therapy Catapult)
• Liz Topp (NIBRT/Purdue)
• James Wilkinson (Refeyn Ltd) 

Poster session (11:00-12:00)

Full list HERE

The process quality defines the product (12:45- 14:00)

• Anurag Rathore (IIT Delhi) 
• Tibor Nagy (Fujifilm Diosynth) Biosynthologies) 
• Franscesc Godia (UAB, Barcelona) 

Engineering cell factories to make products – (14:45-16:20)

• Govind Rao (University of Maryland) 
• Mike Jewett (Northwestern University, Illinois) 
• Velia Siciliano (IIT, Genova) 
• Laura Segatori (Rice University, Texas) 

 

BioProNET2 is an academic-industry networking club sponsored by industry, who together with a group of academics aim to maintain and develop the community that was brought together so successfully by BioProNET.

BioProNET2 Steering Group:Paul Dalby (UCL), Alan Dickson (University of Manchester), Jo Flannelly (University of Manchester), Cleo Kontoravdi (Imperial College), Mark Smales (University of Kent), Ivan Wall (Aston University).

The steering group includes representatives of Allergan Biologics, AZ, Cell & Gene Therapy Catapult, Cobra Biologics, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, GSK, Kymab, Lonza Biologics, Pall Corporation.

 

Welcome to BioProNET2 – Academic – Industry Network

BioProNET has evolved and returned as BioProNET2, an academic-industry networking club with sponsorship through a group of industrial and commercial colleagues who together with a group of academics (see below) aim to maintain and develop the community that was brought together so successfully by BioProNET. Our general objectives are to:

• mobilise a collaborative UK scientific community to address the challenges around, and enhance, the manufacture of emerging novel biological modalities.
• capitalise on entrepreneurship and address fundamental scientific challenges to enable robust and economically viable manufacture.
• develop a forum to engage academics and early career researchers with the industrial sector and entrepreneurial practitioners to provide a framework to train and inspire the next generation.

As a starting point for the focus of BioProNET2 we will be running an annual scientific meeting and a series of subject-specific workshops throughout each year, which this year will have a virtual, on-line structure. You have previously been associated with, and/or attended, meetings organised by BioProNET and, at this stage, we wish to inform you of our general plans and ask you to indicate your interest in hearing about, and being involved in, future activities organised by BioProNET2. We hope that you will and would ask you to forward this communication to any colleagues who you would also think would be interested in being part of BioProNET2 activities.

Just insert the appropriate heading and return this e-mail to the sending address:
YES, please!! Let me know all about BioProNET2 activities
NO, thank you, this is no longer appropriate for me

We are currently updating our BioProNET2 website so please check HERE and our Twitter feed for further information or please contact Jo Flannelly

BioProNET2 Steering Group:
Paul Dalby (UCL), Alan Dickson (University of Manchester), Jo Flannelly (University of Manchester), Cleo Kontoravdi (Imperial College), Mark Smales (University of Kent), Ivan Wall (Aston University).
Current industrialists include representatives of Allergan Biologics, AZ, Cell & Gene Therapy Catapult, Cobra Biologics, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, GSK, Kymab, Lonza Biologics, Pall Corporation.

You might also be interested in the BBSRC phase II NIBB.

 

 

Successes

Case studies of how our funding and events has brought together members from academia and industry to work on innovative research can be found here.
Read our interim achievement report
Member Profiles – read how BioProNET has helped members Charlie and Michael.

Newsletters & reports

Read our latest newsletter here.
Click here to read the BioProNET interim report – highlighting many of our achievements.

Photos from BioProNET’s 2017 Science Meeting, taken by Linas Tamosaitis