ANALYTICAL/QUALITY ARTICLES

  • The RNA Ties That Bind: 3 Takeaways From The OPT Congress

    Here, I unpack three takeaways I had from the OPT Congress, each of which I’d argue are indicative of the interconnectedness across the genetic medicines field.

  • Rethinking ATMP Assurance When Sterility Timelines, Reality Misalign

    The compendial 14-day sterility testing window exposes product and patient to numerous risks, but settling on a rapid alternative also presents its own set of challenges.

  • MicroRNA Therapeutics In Metabolic Liver Disease: Context-Driven Drug Discovery

    Realizing the therapeutic potential of miRNAs in liver disease requires confronting a problem the field has not fully reckoned with.

  • Inside Alnylam's Playbook For High Volume siRNA Production

    As one of the first companies to establish a chemoenzymatic ligation platform, Alnylam's Maines and Nechev are in the perfect position to espouse wisdom on the practical aspects and remaining challenges of implementing enzymatic ligation at a large scale. Here in this installment, Maines and Nechev outline what they’ve learned thus far about the science of enzymatic ligation, while also paying credence to the unknowns and existing barriers that, as a frontrunner, Alnylam will inevitably (but willingly) be tasked with facing in the future.

  • Proteomics Tools: A Resurrection

    For decades, the evolution of proteomics has lagged. Now, a resurrection is underway. New tools are dismantling limitations, signifying a maturation of systems biology.

  • The "Middle Ground" Advantage: Why Alnylam Is Betting Big On Chemoenzymatic Ligation

    Though conversations are picking up around this hybrid approach, we aren’t exactly known as an industry that embraces risk no-holds barred. While there are a handful of manufacturers and CDMOs who are embracing the hybrid model today, there are many more that are likely to hold out for the next-next gen approach: Fully enzymatic oligo production. However, as Alynlam’s CTO and Chief Quality Officer Tim Maines argued, embarking into the “middle ground” of enzymatic ligation is essential for garnering the step-by-step learnings needed to help us unlock even bigger manufacturing wins in the future. 

ANALYTICAL/QUALITY VIDEOS

Companies often underestimate the information required for IND submissions, particularly in a sector that’s as diverse as the mRNA sector. Here, former FDA reviewer Tiffany Lucas shares some of the missteps companies can make when first approaching the FDA with their IND. CureVac’s Ulrike Jägle furthers the discussion, offering a critical best practice she and her colleagues rely upon as well to streamline their regulatory interactions.

ReciBioPharm’s Melanie Cerullo shares where mRNA needs to “catch up” to its oligonucleotide “cousin” molecules and where regulatory differences may be emerging between modalities.

Explore why process-related impurities are a concern in vaccines and present results and learnings from LC-MS analyses of several mRNA- and protein-based vaccines for COVID-19.

Here, Ethris’ Christan Dohmen and Tune Therapeutics’ Stu Sundseth share their take on the most meaningful strategies for reducing dsRNA production. But this discussion also probes a deeper question: Is dsRNA still the most relevant impurity the industry should be chasing, or should focus shift to other contaminants? 

ARTICLES, APP NOTES, CASE STUDIES, & WHITE PAPERS