Novo Nordisk Pharmatech brings recombinant insulin advances to BIOProcess International Europe

Koege, Denmark: – World-leading insulin specialist Novo Nordisk Pharmatech A/S will highlight its recent breakthroughs in using recombinant AF human insulin to increase Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell density when it exhibits at the upcoming BioProcess International Europe (BPI) conference in Vienna.

Novo Nordisk Pharmatech’s stand at Booth 63 at the Messe Wien convention center will showcase a diverse range of advanced applications for its insulin-based products, including improvement of T Cell expansion and optimizing the in-vivo function of CAR-T therapy by using high quality recombinant Human Insulin as part of serum replacement.

Meeting new CHO standards

The Novo Nordisk Pharmatech team in Vienna will include Recombinant Insulin Product Manager, Sara Gualdoni, who commented: “The high level audience at BioProcess International Europe will certainly appreciated the significance of these new applications for our AF insulin.”

“CHO cells are one of the most widely used platforms for the production of biopharmaceuticals. Recent demands for greater safety and reliability has moved the standard for CHO cell culture media from serum to serum-free and further on to chemically defined media,” Ms. Gualdoni explained.

“In collaboration with UAB, we have now shown that addition of animal origin free insulin to three leading commercially available off-the-shelf chemically defined media resulted in significant increases in viable cell density,” she said.

Enabling CAR-T therapies

“In addition to this benefit, insulin has been proven to aid in the expression of difficult to express proteins,” Sara Gualdoni added.

Novo Nordisk Pharmatech will also showcase the role that Insulin AF can play in improving T Cell expansion and in-vivo function in CAR-T therapy optimization by using high quality recombinant Human Insulin as part of a serum replacement program.

“Transfer of T-Cells genetically modified to target cancer cell antigens (CAR-T therapy) is a promising oncology treatment strategy. However, it faces major challenges in scaling up the manufacturing process, improving consistency and reducing cost,” said Sara Gualdoni.

Freeing up the supply chain

One of the major limiting factors is dependency on human serum to support T cell growth and survival when cultured ex-vivo. Human serum is both expensive and the current supply chain will not meet expected demand when different approved CAR-T therapies become blockbuster treatments.

High focus on T-Cell media development has recently allowed several serum free media being introduced on the market, with different proprietary formulation based on key components, such as human insulin that can supports expansion and In Vivo function of human T Cells in the absence of human sera.

About Novo Nordisk Pharmatech A/S

Novo Nordisk Pharmatech A/S was established in 1949 as FeF Chemicals, acquired by Novo Nordisk in 1986 and has been part of the pharmaceutical group since then. Novo Nordisk Pharmatech A/S is the leading worldwide supplier of recombinant insulin for cell growth media and pharmaceutical grade quaternary ammonium compounds (quats) for the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical industry.

About BioProcess International Europe 2019

Founded in 2004, the BioProcess International European Summit (BPI Europe) has become one of Europe’s leading bioprocessing events, attracting close to 1,000 professionals, representing some 275 organizations from academia and industry.

BPI Europe 2019 is a four-day event opening April 2 at the Messe Wien Exhibition Congress Center in the Austrian capital, Vienna, having been held in Amsterdam last year.

The conference features four major streams on Cell Culture & Upstream Process Development, Downstream Processing, Raw Materials and Cell Line Development & Engineering, along with numerous keynote speeches poster presentations, and an exhibition: all part of the conference’s mission to connect the biopharmaceutical industry with new ideas and innovations across all phases of bioprocess development.

A sister American summit, BPI West, was held during March 19 in Santa Clara, California.

The BPI series is organized by Informa Knect with further information at: https://lifesciences.knect365.com/bpieurope/.