Voices in the Exhibit Hall
BPI West in San Diego continues to be my personal favorite conference to attend every year. The location can’t be beat — not least because it’s in my time zone and saves me from jet lag — but it’s so much more than that. It’s the program, the food, the west-coast vibe, the just-the-right-size crowd . . . and this year, I have to say that the posters in our exhibit hall were the highlight of my week.
Poster presenters often represent a younger demographic than speakers in the main conference program. Their work, however, is often just as compelling. Although the themes span upstream and downstream processing (DSP), all three finalists this year shared a quality that put them over the top: They presented information on currently trending problems and solutions that others could learn from, use, and possibly build on — and they did it well.
The winner was “Iterative design of a DSP Work Package for Multispecifics: Learnings and Adaptations,” by Eashwar Rajaraman and colleagues in the Biologics Research Center of Novartis. This poster summarizes lessons learned in developing a platform-like approach to downstream processing of multispecific molecules. The team identified and resolved issues related to high–molecular-weight species arising during viral inactivation, developing polishing steps to meet desired quality thresholds for final drug substance, and preparing that substance for highly concentrated formulation. A protein-purification specialist, Rajaraman has been with Novartis for over a decade. He holds a master of science in biochemical engineering from the University of Georgia and a master of science in biology from the Birla Institute in India.
Second place went to “Increasing Therapeutic Antibody Production Through Double Gene Expression Cassette,” by Annabel Torres and colleagues at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. The team obtained higher gene-copy numbers, increased expression titers, and slowed growth in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, leading to overall improved specific productivities compared with cell lines using single-gene constructs. A principal scientist in cell-line development, Torres holds a PhD in cell biology from Jefferson Health.
The third-place poster was “Assessing the Impact of Transient Dissolved Oxygen (DO) Excursions on Process Performance and Product Quality,” by Katherine Resch and colleagues at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Their poster highlights a previously unknown relationship between DO control and desirable product quality attributes. The resulting robustness data will be used as a springboard for future process characterization to complement proven acceptable-range studies by prospectively addressing temporary excursions. Resch is a cell culture process scientist who has taught chemistry at SUNY Genesco in New York. She earned her master of science in biochemistry from the University of Saint Joseph in 2022.
I enjoyed meeting and talking with two of the three winners — unfortunately, J&J would not allow Torres to present in our awards program — and you can find videos of our chats on our website at the links above. All three won free passes to next year’s BPI West, so we look forward to seeing them again next year in what I hope will be an even larger poster hall and award program.
BioProcess International's Editor in Chief, Cheryl Scott, interviews 1st place poster hall winner, Eashwar Rajaraman, principal scientist at Biologics Research Center of Novartis. His team's poster “Iterative design of a DSP Work Package for Multispecifics: Learnings and Adaptations,” summarizes lessons learned in developing a platform-like approach to downstream processing of multispecific molecules. The team identified and resolved issues related to high–molecular-weight species arising during viral inactivation, developing polishing steps to meet desired quality thresholds for final drug substance, and preparing that substance for highly concentrated formulation. A protein-purification specialist, Rajaraman has been with Novartis for over a decade. He holds a master of science in biochemical engineering from the University of Georgia and a master of science in biology from the Birla Institute in India.
Cheryl Scott, Editor in Chief of BioProcess International interviews Katherine Resch, the third-place BPI West 2025 poster hall award winner. Her team's poster was “Assessing the Impact of Transient Dissolved Oxygen (DO) Excursions on Process Performance and Product Quality,” highlights a previously unknown relationship between DO control and desirable product quality attributes. The resulting robustness data will be used as a springboard for future process characterization to complement proven acceptable-range studies by prospectively addressing temporary excursions. Resch is a cell culture process scientist who has taught chemistry at SUNY Genesco in New York. She earned her master of science in biochemistry from the University of Saint Joseph in 2022.
