23andMe Inc, Codexis, GE Healthcare, 3M Co, Amgen, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly & Co, Merck, Novo Nordisk, and Pfizer. The big names were there at the Cambridge Healthtech Institute’s 18th Annual PepTalk, and so was Nanome.

The event was held in Nanome’s backyard from last month at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. (We’re based just a short drive away in La Jolla, California, on the UC San Diego campus)

We were thrilled to attend one of the largest annual gatherings of protein science researchers in the world. This year, PepTalk hosted nearly 1,500 participants comprised of leading thinkers from biotech, pharma, and academia.

Nanome Booth at PepTalk

Many new announcements were made at PepTalk. For instance, clinical-stage immunotherapy company Vaccinex, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCNX) Vice President of Preclinical Research, Elizabeth Evans, Ph.D., presented on the company’s anti-SEMA4D research and data from its Phase 2 trial in Huntington’s Disease.

In her presentation, “An Emerging Role for Glial Cells and Guidance Molecules in Neurodegeneration,” Dr. Evans’s explained the pathogenic role that the SEMA4D protein plays in neurodegeneration. She noted her company’s experience with its monoclonal antibody, VX15 (pepinemab), in blocking the molecule.

Chief Experience Officer Edgardo and Alessandro Monge of the Nanome Team

Spheryx, Inc. introduced its new particle characterization instrument, xSight, at PepTalk. xSight implements Spheryx’s proprietary technology, Total Holographic Characterization®, which is used for detecting, counting and characterizing sub-visible particles in complex heterogeneous combinations. These might include protein aggregates, silicone oil droplets, and other contaminants in biologic formulations.

Dr. Laura Philips, Spheryx President and CEO, presented “Detecting, Counting and Characterizing Sub-Visible Protein Aggregates with Holographic Video Microscopy”, and reported recent findings on characterizing protein aggregates in the presence of silicone oil.

GenScript announced at PepTalk the launch of its AmMag™ SA semi-automatic purification instrument, which accelerates and simplifies protein and antibody purification. Instead of taking days, this process now takes mere hours. Developed in collaboration with Amgen, the technology integrates the speed and high binding capacity found in magnetic beads with high throughput for larger sample volumes.

“Traditional purification instruments operate at a very low speed. Their throughput is limited to the ‘one filtered sample at a time’ mode of operation, rendering purification a painstakingly slow process,” said GenScript Marketing Director Roumen Bogoev. “The AmMag SA purification instrument produces similar results to traditional methods at a fraction of the time, offering organizations a new tool for accelerating the drug development process and ultimately bringing life-saving medications to market more quickly.”

Dr. Jan Jezek, Chief Scientific Officer for UK-based leading formulation tech company Arecor Limited, presented “Novel Biopharmaceutical Compositions to Reduce the Rate of Aggregation”.

Dr Jezek’s PEPTalk presentation summarized key principles behind its proprietary formulation technology, Arestat. The tech enables biopharmaceutical products that keep protein aggregation to a minimum so scientists can create safe and convenient products not achievable using conventional formulation methods. According to Arecor, one benefit might be products that do not need to be refrigerated.

In “Driving Efficiency in Purification with Automated Multistep and Parallel Chromatography”, Hoang Tran, Senior Field Applications Scientist at GE Healthcare Life Sciences, spoke about how scientists are improving upon the traditional single-step purification methodology with more efficient and automated parallel and continuous processing.

Dr. Peter Schmidt, Director of Recombinant Technology Research at CSL Behring, discussed Monoclonal antibodies, which he called “the fastest growing segment in the drug market.” He discussed how mABs development requires purifications of a great number of variants that have also sufficient yield.

High-throughput purification strategies are limited, Dr. Schmidt argued, because the binding capacity of established affinity matrices is too low. The CSL Behring Director revealed that his company’s results showed that matrices developed for continuous chromatography applications increase the yield in high-throughput and lab-scale antibody purification.

In the talk “Establishing Innovative and Efficient Tool Boxes for Optimal and Scalable Processes for Recombinant Proteins,” Yuyi Shen, phD, Associate Director of Process Development & Manufacturing at Bolt Biotherapeutics, discussed how technology advances bioprocessing and manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Shen showed the successful implementation of tools for process development and improvement for mAbs and complex recombinant proteins.

Overall, PepTalk was a great experience. It was a pleasure having so many thought leaders in our own backyard. We were busy manning the booth, but did catch some very interesting talks that reinforced our belief that technology like VR can revolutionize the pharmaceutical, chemical and health science industries — and many more, as well! Have questions how? Contact us today.