Articles in the Category ”Interview”
Genovis Teams up with Waters to Deliver Enzymatic Workflows for the Biopharma Industry
The new collaboration between Genovis and Waters Corporation is intended to bring fast and easy analytical workflows for biopharmaceuticals by combining the SmartEnzymes™ portfolio from Genovis with the unique instrumentation from Waters™. The lab work has already started, and we got a quick word with Andreas Nägeli, one of the scientists at Genovis contributing to this collaboration.
Genovis receives funding from Vinnova
Genovis receives funding from Vinnova for the development of a new high-throughput platform for a directed and efficient product development for quality assurance of biological drugs. To understand the project we got a quick word with the VP of Research & Development at Genovis, Rolf Lood. Rolf is heading the enzyme discovery team at Genovis and has a solid scientific background from both Lund University and Rockefeller University, New York.
Fluorescent Imaging using GlyCLICK®, an Interview with ImaGene-iT
Bo Holmqvist at ImaGene-iT gives us insight about microscopy imaging and how ImaGene-iT is using the site-specific GlyCLICK® technology to obtain high-quality fluorescence images.
Tell us about yourself and ImaGene-iT?
I am CSO at ImaGene-iT, an independent contract research company supporting the life science industry and academia. Concurrently, as associate professor in experimental pathology, I have a research background in histology and neurobiology with extensive experience in microscope imaging and digital image analysis. As a principal investigator at ImaGene-iT, I perform most of the quality assessments using high-resolution confocal microscopy along with imaging for further digital analysis.
Our projects comprise a variety of questions and involve various types of biological samples on both the histological and cellular levels. At ImaGene-iT, we are engaged in finding suitable solutions and strategies for our customers and partners, concerning the choice of experimental labeling techniques combined with the optimal microscope and image analysis technique.
What are the key aspects of experimental design in imaging experiments?
From the question at hand and to obtain the best end result, we want to participate in the whole chain of tailor-made procedures. This includes the initial handling of samples, the choice of labeling technology and the best suited detection and imaging equipment. This allows us to extract the most relevant data possible for high quality image analysis.
What are the advantages of using the GlyCLICK technology?
In our tests, antibodies with GlyCLICK conjugated fluorophores work very well for imaging in both in vitro cell and tissue analyses. The conjugates provide an excellent signal-to-noise ratio for detection and imaging with fluorescence microscopy. For confocal microscope analysis, GlyCLICK conjugated antibodies give an optimal range of intensity levels. This allows us to obtain the ideal settings for detection of both the lower and higher intensity levels with a reduced loss of signal and saturation. The optimal range of detected intensity levels improves the quality of assessment as well as the digital imaging which in turn improves the image analyses.
What does the future of imaging look like?
In our field, one of the major recent advances in imaging is the ability to extract a large amount of data from images, for example from multi-fluorescence labeled samples. The use of markers with a known number of conjugation sites per target molecule, such as the GlyCLICK technology offers, can significantly improve quantitation possibilities for all types of imaging-based analysis. This opportunity benefits the fields of basic research and drug development and may form the basis for exciting diagnostic tools in clinical histopathology. The combined use of GlyCLICK conjugated fluorescence with small animal in vivo imaging could further expand the quality of quantitative data that can be collected for our clients, from the cellular level to the whole animal.
Read more about the Genovis GlyCLICK technology and its applications.
SmartEnzymes at BGI, an interview with Aaron Bailey
We got the opportunity to talk to Aaron Bailey at BGI Americas. From their newly setup MS labs, they use SmartEnzymes to help provide analytical services to their customers globally. Read on to find out more.
Tell us about yourself and BGI?
Currently I work at BGI Americas as the Associate Director of Product Management for Mass Spectrometry Services. I am part of the scientific team based in San Jose, California, at the newly built Mass Spectrometry Center.
How has the MS team set up the industrial platform there at BGI in San Jose?
Our mass spec center is a service and R&D laboratory focused on providing LC-MS solutions for proteomic research and biologic drug characterization. Our current LC-MS service platform plays to our core strengths in automated sample prep, multi-mode HPLC separations, high resolution Orbitrap MS, and advanced bioinformatic analysis. We have built a versatile system which can cater to a wide scope of proteomics and biologic drug characterization needs. In San Jose our Q Exactive HF-X BioPharma can be coupled to either nano-flow or analytical flow UHPLC, which essentially affords us the ability to provide LC-MS services for multi-omic researchers and pharmaceutical research and development.
How does the MS team do sample preparation prior to MS analysis?
For emerging formats, including some Fc-fusion protein drugs which are already established in global markets, glycosylation can be both highly heterogeneous and often involve both N- and O-linkages and is often distributed on potentially many sites throughout the amino acid sequence. These projects require that glycosylations can be selectively removed in order to validate the identity of each identified PTM. We have had success using several deglycosidases including SmartEnzymes from Genovis. In a sort of combinatorial sample prep matrix these enzymes help objectively determine for each therapeutic protein how highly complex glycoform patterns obseved at the (completely unprocessed) intact mass level are specifically derived from the contributions of possibly several types of glycosylation events (i.e., N-linked vs. O-linked vs. sialylated). Each may individually involve heterogeneous distibution of the specific sugar types found at any particular amino acid site. While protein isoform distributions must be measured at the “intact” or “subunit” level, for example using FabRICATOR, site specific measurements must be performed using peptide mapping approaches. Most importantly, the two types of datasets must essentially agree on the findings, and the sample prep strategy described here is a powerful way to navigate this challenge.
What are the advantages of using SmartEnzymes like FragIT, OglyZOR and SialEXO?
We found that the activity and purity of these SmartEnzymes was a good fit for our native LC-MS platform in the sense that we are able to efficiently deglycosylate our therapeutic proteins using very little amount enzyme which remains near or below the actual level of detection in our experiments. This means that in normal usage we are not seeing these enzymes (FragIT, OglyZOR and SialEXO) in our datasets, which is particularly important for our native LC-MS intact mass analyses. This is a critical point for us as it means that we can keep our analyses streamlined by avoiding the need to address any artifact data which are not specifically related to any therapeutic protein isoforms.
The San Jose Mass Spectrometry Center uniquely allows BGI to offer state-of-the-art genomic and proteomic analytical services globally. In the coming year we plan to grow our team and add new LC and MS instrumentation to further increase our ability to support this market. We expect to see exciting new developments in integrating NGS and LC-MS datasets. We also plan to introduce additional mass spectrometry services which will allow us to provide even deeper support in our main focus areas of proteomics and biologics characterization.
Download Aaron’s ASMS poster here.
For more information on FragIT, OglyZOR and SialEXO please visit the following pages:
- FragIT, OglyZOR and SialEXO Product Pages
- Generation of Antibody Fragments & Analyis of O-glycans
Introducing our new CFO, Johny Humaloja
Johny joined the Genovis team in August, and he brings more than 25 years of financial experience to the company. We are very excited to have you in the team, Johny! Welcome!
Tell us a bit about yourself
I live in Malmö, in the southern part of Sweden and I have two daughters. I have a cat named Zelda. On my free time I like to play hockey with my friends and go out for a ride on my road bike.
If you were to describe yourself using only one word – what word would that be?
Committed
Tell us about your previous working life
I have more than 18 years of finance leadership experience in the life science industry, mainly from working in US public listed companies such as Biogen and Boston Scientific. Focus has been on the Nordic region, to develop businesses and execute operational improvements. At Biogen I got the opportunity to work as Plant Controller and run all the financial activities at their large-scale manufacturing plant in North Carolina.
What will your main focus be here at Genovis?
Day-to-day business and make sure to enable Genovis to continue to grow and expand the business model. It will be key for me to understand the different parts of the organization and give adequate financial information and support. Financial areas to focus on will be;internal control, project management, statutory accounting, taxes, manage outsourced services, and external reporting.
What do you believe will be the biggest opportunity in your new position as CFO?
I believe I can utilize skills and experiences in sales/commercial and production area to find new ways to do business and provide financial and strategic leadership.
4 quick questions:
Coffee or tea?
Coffee – Zoegas
Aerosmith or Depeche Mode?
Depeche Mode
Ice cream or candy?
Chocolate Ice cream
Soccer or ice hockey?
Hockey, Carolina Hurricanes