PhD Literature Mastery Presentation – Cole Azevedo, PhD Student -“Downstream Purification Process Development for Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV)”

Please join us for PhD Student, Cole Azevedo’s PhD Literature Mastery Presentation.

The gene therapy industry is still in its infancy, with only 3 AAV-mediated gene therapies approved by the FDA to date, and many more in clinical trials. Given recent successes in this space, the manufacturing of these viral vectors is still continually being optimized, with new manufacturing techniques, equipment, and consumables being introduced every year. Due to the differing capsid structure, these new technologies must be individually optimized for each AAV serotype. One common unit operation in the purification of AAV therapeutics is anion exchange chromatography, which is used to remove non-functional “empty” capsid viral particles created during the cell culture process. However, the small electrochemical difference between “full” and “empty” capsids by which the separation occurs makes it difficult to achieve a high-resolution separation without product loss. Recent advances in chromatography columns, specifically in monolith and membrane technology, show promise in increasing step yields and reducing processing times, and need to be individually optimized. Other technologies in the analytical space need to be further developed to give process scientists a better understanding of the performance of these new separation techniques.

Date:  November 30, 2022

Time:  12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

Location: 535 Bldg. – 109 Classroom and Via Zoom (See Outlook Invite for Zoom Link)