Protein purification services
Using advanced biotechnology techniques, the NRC Protein Purification Team designs and optimizes purification processes to produce high value-added active ingredients for pharmaceutical companies in Canada and abroad. These processes provide manufacturers with cost-effective ways to produce large quantities of proteins and peptides for use as biotherapeutics, vaccines, etc. Each process is designed for the specific level of product purity required, and to be highly efficient, reliable and robust upon scale-up.
Our customers include many of the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. For example, we just produced 1,500 grams of each of two enzymes being used to treat gluten intolerance in clinical trials in the United States.
The Protein Purification Team focuses on developing and optimizing downstream processes for recombinant proteins from primary recovery to polishing, including analytical and protein characterization methods, scale-up and technology transfer to cGMP manufacturing. Our protein purification and characterization capabilities in the NRC Bioprocess Centre extend from laboratory to 1,500L scale.
Services we offer:
- Protein and peptide purification process development and scale-up
- Pilot-scale recombinant protein purification (up to 5 kg per batch)
- Pyrogen-free protein purification
- Purified protein characterization and pre-formulation development
- Protein derivatization
- Economic analysis of protein purification processes
Our Expertise:
Our team has many years of experience in the recovery and purification of recombinant proteins and peptides produced by different expression systems. State-of-the art knowledge and capabilities are combined with multipurpose equipment to develop purification strategies. In addition, our team has thorough knowledge of GLP and cGMP requirements. Our experience allows team members to understand the client's needs, particularly when the product is intended for toxicological and preclinical studies. We are currently developing a virtual protein characterization facility, including state-of-the-art capillary electrophoresis equipment to measure the carbohydrate component of biotherapeutic proteins.
Equipment:
The Protein Purification Team laboratories are integrated with the Microbial Pilot Plant, in which we continue to invest strongly to modernize equipment and infrastructure.
Primary Recovery
- Cell breakage (bead mill, MicroFluidizer, valve-type homogenizer)
Filtration Techniques (Microfiltration and Ultrafiltration)
- Tangential flow filtration systems (cassettes: surface area to 12m2; hollow fiber and spiral wound cartridges: surface area to 10m2)
- Conventional filtration
Chromatography Techniques
- Ion exchange, HIC, size exclusion, affinity and reverse-phase chromatography
Chromatography Systems
- Akta Prime, Akta Explorer, BioPilot, BioProcess, Akta Process (flow rates from 0.01ml/min to 10L/min)
- Fixed bed chromatography (to 45cm diameter, 65L volume)
- Expanded bed technology (to 20cm diameter)
Protein Characterization and Analysis
- SDS-PAGE, HPLC, Western Blot, ELISA; access to LC-MS, CD, SPR, NMR (800MHz), etc.
Contact
Eileen Raymond
Telephone: 514-496-6349
Email: Eileen.Raymond@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
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