Nanotechnology Rules at December Program

The Boston Area Chapter hosted its December educational program on nanotechnology at IPSEN Biosciences. What better place to host an event on a topic that’s innovative and patient-centric than the heart of Kendall Square. The evening started in the brand-new facility IPSEN has just built. The 6-month-new space boasted a beautiful lobby, networking area and biolab hub. IPSEN rents space to many start-up companies, allowing them to utilize their equipment, utilities and resources to help break down some of the barriers start-ups can face. Attendees were able to learn about the labs during a tour, as well as see the new facility space.

Later in the evening, we heard from two great speakers beginning with Jeff Atkinson, Head of Process Science at IPSEN. Jeff has worked on nanotechnology for quite some time, bringing his polymeric industry experience into the biotech field. His talk focused on organic nanoparticles, specifically liposomes, and enumerated the many benefits of bringing them into the life science market for use in drug delivery. The one that stood out most to me was the reduction in drug dosage and therefore the reduction in side effects. It’s wonderful to hear about the focus on patients when thinking about innovation.

Jeff next explained the three different methods of liposome formation: mechanical agitation, solvent dispersion and surfactant solubilization, and the pros and cons of each process. He summarized by discussing the barriers the life science world is overcoming to bring this technology to fruition, however “overcoming” is the critical word here. No challenge is too great when it comes to Kendall Square!

The second presentation was led by Thomai “Mimi” Panagiotou who is founder, president and CEO of Delphi Scientific. Mimi has worked with Professor Robert J. Fisher of MIT to design and support the scale-up of nanoformulations from lab-based techniques to production. Mimi went through the three different integrated disciplines that impact nano/micro size particle-based formulations: chemistry, process and hardware. There are many manufacturing challenges that are holding back the adoption of nanoformulations in the market place including stability, particle size uniformity, minimizing surfactants, micro-macro incorporation and production cost.

Mimi walked us through three different experiments she had run and the issues they were trying to address including low yield, number of homogenizations, and reducing expensive processes. The experiments analyzed the issues of a conventional production of nanoemulsions, as well as two other non-conventional processes that Mimi had designed and the overall results. In the end, Mimi and her team were able to re-design the production process and substantially reduce the equipment investment companies might need to introduce this process. Lower cost of manufacturing drugs means lower cost to the patient and high adoptability. Another great example of patient-centric focus in our industry.

At the end of the presentation, Mimi and Jeff concluded with a lively Q&A. I was delighted to see the number of students from academia who turned out for the program, including attendees from UMass and Northeastern. Along with the rest of the audience, they asked some great questions of our panelists.

Bringing together experts to help share lessons learned is critical to innovation. In other industries, the willingness to share information is never as high as it is in biotech. The end result is constant improvement, which means better quality and lower cost drugs being delivered to those who need them.

A big ISPE thank you to our wonderful presenters, to IPSEN for hosting, to sponsors DPS Group, ICQ and PM Group who helped to bring this program to our members and guests and to the Chapter’s Educational Program Committee for another exciting and informative program.