In the midst of a global COVID-19 pandemic, a top priority for many pharma and biopharma companies is to get a vaccine developed, produced and delivered to the public as quickly as possible. Ushering a vaccine through rigorous testing protocols and regulatory approvals is not an easy (or quick) effort, but incorporating advanced data analytics could help accelerate the process. Data analytics has proven effective in speeding vaccine development both by enabling more efficient Design of Experiments (DOE) and by creating rapid-scale production rollout processes.
A new diagnostic method for detecting a rare kidney stone disease has recently been developed at the University of Iceland. Instead of using urine microscopy, which has certain disadvantages, the diagnostic method is based on mass spectrometry of plasma samples. Preliminary clinical data shows very promising results both in terms of detecting the disease and therapeutic drug monitoring. Design of Experiments (DOE) was used as a chemometric approach to optimize the assay. Below is a summary of the assay development and optimization.
A challenge for the regenerative medicine industry is to develop cell culture processes that can be scaled up for high volume production. Finding a better way to scale up commonly used research cells like HEK293T (used for protein expression and the production of recombinant retroviruses or lentiviral vectors) would be beneficial for biologists in many fields of medicine. Dr. Franziska Bollmann, virus scientist at Sartorius Stedim Biotech in Germany, recently conducted two experiments to find out if micro bioreactor systems can help facilitate the transition from the traditional shake flask process to a more improved method optimizing process control.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer amongst women worldwide and a leading cause of cancer related deaths among females. It’s the second most common type of cancer overall. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer Research, there were more than 2 million new cases in 2018.
Many elderly people are afraid of falling – and for good reasons. Falls can have serious consequences for the individual but also the fear of falling could have serious effects on health and independence. A new research project at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden has taken a closer look at fall-related concerns among elderly people, using multivariate data analysis, MVDA, with the ultimate goal of finding diagnostic and training methods that could help reduce falls. Results from the first studies have given some interesting answers.
Advancements in cell and gene therapy hold promise for the future of personalized medicine, especially for cancer treatments. However, bioprocessing methods for autologous cellular therapies, and CAR-T in particular, often present unique challenges in manufacturing due to the variability of the starting material and unique nature of each batch. Is there a way to create more efficient processes in order to bring down costs and make personalized medicine a viable option for more patients?
