BPD expands existing bioprocess and scale-up laboratory in Poway, CA

May 25 2011

Biologics Process Development Inc. ("BPD"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Viropro, will double the size of its existing bioprocess- and scale-up laboratory in Poway, CA.

BPD provides contract laboratory services for the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industry and specializes in molecular biology, recombinant protein expression, cell culture, bacterial fermentation, protein separation and purification, and frozen cell/material storage.

BPD's expansion enables the company to serve clients in need of larger processing volumes, thereby also increasing its client base.

Viropro also announces the appointment of Dr. Howard Levine and Dr. Pete M. Fernandes to its Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Levine has over 30 years of experience in successful product companies and as founder of BioProcess Technology Consultants, Inc., the leading CMC consulting group in the biopharmaceutical industry.

Prior to founding BioProcess Technology Consultants, Dr. Levine was Vice-President of Manufacturing Operations at Repligen Corporation, and previous to that, Director of Pilot Plant Operations at Xoma Corporation. He has also held positions in process development and manufacturing at Genentech and Amgen.

He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Chicago and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University

For more than 30 years, Dr. Fernandes has been involved in technical and strategic management of both early and late stage drug development of both recombinant-derived biologicals and of small molecules.

Dr. Fernandes was, till recently, Vice-President, Pharmaceutical Development, US/EU Operations for Santen, Inc. of Osaka, Japan, and prior to that Vice-President and Director of Process Development and Strategy at Chiron Corporation.

Dr. Fernandes holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, from Rutgers University. He has authored several publications and holds miscellaneous patents in this field.

Viropro further announces it has retained the services of Jones Day of Washington DC as its outside legal counsel.