FDA NEWS DIGEST -- JANUARY 7, 2002

With regulators embracing next-generation sequencing, how will the ICH Q5A(R2) guidelines reshape viral safety strategies for gene and cell therapies?

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.

While a one-stop shop still has its advantages, sponsor companies and CDMOs are starting to see each other not as transactional relationships, but true partners with a common goal of getting drugs to patients faster.

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.

The White House is instructing FDA to increase fees for and inspections of foreign drug manufacturing plants and reduce the time required to approve such sites that will be newly constructed in the US.

Although automation is increasingly adopted in biomanufacturing, challenges remain in implementing it at the cell harvesting step.