An Interview with Proteins Industry Leader Marco Thomann, Group Leader, Development Analytics Characterization, Roche

Oxford Global Conferences are proud to present the 8th Annual Proteins & Antibodies Congress, taking place at the Novotel London West on the 20^th and 21^st April 2015. Our 8^th Annual Proteins & Antibodies Congress is Europe’s leading congress on proteins and antibodies, bringing together over 350 senior-level decision makers working at the forefront of research into protein expression, purification and antibody therapeutics in Europe and the US. The two day congress is co-located with our 2^nd Annual Peptides Congress and our 3^rd Annual Biosimilars and Biobetters Congress. In the lead up to the 8^th Annual Proteins and Antibodies Congress we asked one of our congress speakers, Marco Thomann, Group Leader, Development Analytics Characterization, Roche to expand upon his current work within the proteins and antibodies field. We asked Marco…

 

At our upcoming Proteins and Antibodies Congress next April, you will be speaking about in vitro glycoengineering. What makes the investigation of antibody Fc glycan structure-function relationship so important?

 

“A better understanding of glycan structure-function relationship may allow for development of therapeutic proteins with increased benefit for patients. We do now have tools available to more easily create and analyse glycan variants of therapeutics and thereby learn more about our molecule of interest (mechanism of action, efficacy, PK, etc.) In vitro glycoengineering can be applied at any stage of development and even for marketed products and helps to get a deeper understanding of protein functionality, supporting for example lead optimization, comparability exercises or CQA assessment.”

 

Are there any technologies that you are particularly excited about at the moment, or that are helping you to overcome the challenges in your research?

 

“There are for example host cell protein identification and characterization or new methods to assess higher order structure of proteins, both involving liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques. And there is also the development of new analytical methods to appropriately analyse new formats, like ADCs, fusion proteins or new antibody formats.”

 

Thinking more broadly, what is the most exciting area in the proteins and antibodies field at the moment? Aside from your own, are there any other research projects out there that you think are particularly interesting?

 

“The new (antibody) formats bring new challenges for bioprocess as well as for analytical scientists. This will require new ideas, new problem solving approaches, and maybe new platform processes.”

 

If you would like to hear more from Marco Thomann, he will be presenting his research on “In Vitro Glycoengineering  – A Useful Tool For Glycan Structure-Function Characterization And Molecule Optimization” on the 21^st April, in Proteins stream 1.

 

Oxford Global Conferences are proud to announce the following speakers for the 8^th Annual Proteins & Antibodies Congress:

 

Lorenz Mayr Vice President, Reagents & Assay Development, AstraZeneca who will talk about ‘Antibodies as Essential Tools for Modern Drug Discovery’

Jonny Finlay Director, Protein Discovery and Optimisation, Pfizer who will explore how to achieve flexibility and diversity in your antibody library design

Werner Meier Vice President, Biologics Drug Discovery, Biogen Idec who will be sharing a case study about a novel therapeutic antibody for multiple sclerosis

Laura Lin Director, Biophysics, Analytics and Bioconjugation, Pfizer who will be discussing ‘Early Stage Molecular Assessment to Enable Antibody Lead Selection with Optimal Developability’

 

For a full list of our congress speakers and to download the agenda please visit:

www.proteins-congress.com/download-agenda-marketing

 

For further information or to enquire about available discounts please contact Danielle Dalby on d.dalby@oxfordglobal.co.uk or phone us on +44(0)1865 248455

 

Post-Congress Seminars

22^nd April 2015 in London, UK

 

ANTIBODY ENGINEERING ~ ANTIBODY DRUG CONJUGATES

 

Oxford Global are delighted to announce two post-Congress Seminars taking place on the 22^nd April 2015 in London.

The Antibody Engineering Seminar will cover topics such as; an Introduction to Antibody Drug Discovery, Antibody Humanisation and Optimisation, Early Stage Developability Engineering and Characterisation, Novel Antibody Formats and Alternative Scaffolds.

The Antibody Drug Conjugates Seminar will cover  topics such as; ADC Mechanism of Production and Target Discovery, ADC Design and Engineering Strategies, ADC Formulation and Process Development and the ADC Supply Chain.

 

These one day courses are limited to only 15 delegate places per seminar and are designed to be highly interactive with open discussions and practical advice. Upon registration delegates are provided with a pre-seminar questionnaire to allow the trainer to tailor the day to their needs of understanding specifics of the industry. The standard price to attend our post congress seminars is £699 + VAT. Please contact Danielle to receive further information or enquire about available discounts.

 

Seminar spaces are limited, so register your interest today by contacting Danielle Dalby on d.dalby@oxfordglobal.co.uk or phone +44(0)1865 248455.

 

1. Danielle Dalby. Marketing Manager. +44(0) 1865 248455. D.dalby@oxfordglobal.co.uk

2. Oxford Global Conferences produces cutting edge congresses and summits for the Life Sciences Industry.

3. Oxford Global Conferences Ltd. phone +44 (0)1865 248455 | fax +44 (0)1865 250985 | email: info@oxfordglobal.co.uk  | Web: http://www.oxfordglobal.co.uk/