Emilie BACH

UCB Pharma, Brussels, Belgium is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the research, development and commercialization of innovative medicines with a focus on the fields of central nervous system and immunology disorders.

Activities:
- Animal cell culture in stirred bioreactors (fed-batch): cell thawing, cell expansion in shake flasks and waves, equipment setup, antibody production in 80-L bioreactors.
- Process monitoring and process related documentation: fill up and review of batch records.
- Harvest process optimization: disk stack centrifugation, depth and membrane filtration.
- Pre-clinical batch manufacturing: process monitoring, primary recovery (GMP –like).
- Selection of a secondary supplier for harvest filters at 2,000-L scale: filter assessment at bench-scale, first sizing at 2,000-L scale.
- Product quality analysis: titer measurement (HPLC, Octet), antibody purification (Äkta Xpress), charge variant analysis (iCE3), size exclusion chromatography (Acquity UPLC).

- Quality improvement of a test based on RNA quantification (feasibility stage): RT-qPCR (Rotor Gene Q), selection of new RT and qPCR reagents, new control assessment, reports writing.
- Comparison of three RNA extraction methods (column, trizol)