ANZ BioChallenge 2021
Submissions for the ANZ BioChallenge are now closed.
Start date - Thursday September 16th 2021
Submission close date - Friday October 29th 2021
As someone pursuing the clinical promise of a biotherapeutic molecule, you already believe in the technology’s potential.
We believe in it, and in you. That’s why we developed this challenge, where we offer our knowledge and services to help you overcome obstacles in biologic manufacturing.
Cytiva’s name might be new, but we have a long-proven history in supporting researchers, startups and manufacturers of biologics. Our team of industry-trained experts combine their applications knowledge to help solve challenges and optimize your process development, scale up and entire bioprocess. We work with complete transparency and empower you to solve them too. Tap into more than 300 years of collective industrial knowledge gained all over the world.
For the ANZ BioChallenge we are accepting applications in these 3 focus areas: Cell engineering, Process development, and Isolation and chromatography and filtration purification.
Do you need support in one of these areas?
If so, in 1500 words tell us about your program and the specific process challenge that you are working to solve. A panel of local independent and global Cytiva judges will evaluate proposals based on relevancy and potential for impact. Selected finalists will make a presentation to the panel in order to select the Biochallenge winners. The winning proposal will receive an award of AU$200,000 in Cytiva’s Fast Trak™ services and an opportunity to collaborate alongside industry experts to bring your idea to life.
Every selected finalist will have the ability to network with Cytiva’s team of industry experts.
You are also welcomed to contact Tim O’Meara to book an individual coaching session for feedback on your proposed application or for any questions around the BioChallenge.
Prof. Tim O’Meara PhD MBA
Strategy Manager – Government & Research
Australia & New Zealand
M: +61 407 777 145
E: [email protected]
Application is closed.
Please complete the following details to receive an application form to complete and return when ready:
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Cell engineering
Making therapies a reality will depend on whether the industry can develop innovative technologies to engineer cell lines that can produce therapeutics with specific characteristic and product output.
What are your ideas to solve this challenge or how can Cytiva expertise help your current upstream process.
Process development
Engineered cells will only be useful if they are scaled to produce therapeutically relevant doses. A combination of novel culture systems, media, reagents, and analytics will be needed to develop a robust process.
Do you think your technology could be part of it or do you need Cytiva’s help with process optimization?
Isolation and purification
The cost of manufacturing advanced therapies is high in part due to lack of efficient purification technologies.
How can Cytiva streamline your purification and reduce drug product loss during downstream processing?
About the BioChallenge
Our Fast Trak™ portfolio of services is designed to help you achieve scale – in the shortest time possible, while reducing costs, accelerating robust outcomes, and mitigating risk, all with full transparency.
The Fast Trak™ team goal is to offer products and services in one place so you can avoid the pitfalls of working with multiple suppliers; inefficient processes, delayed batches, lack of product and process expertise. Tap into more than 300 years of collective industrial knowledge gained all over the world on topics such as:
- Regulatory know-how: batch documentation packages and IND enabling batches (CFDA)
- Process expertise: single-use bioprocessing, process development: upstream/downstream – including but not limited to cell culture, filtration, chromatography, in-line dilution and more
- Manufacturing capacity: toxicology batches, preclinical and clinical manufacturing
We can help you expedite molecules to clinic with full transparency. Beyond that, you will have the tools and know-how you need to take your process forward independently. Discover more.
We welcome all kinds of innovative solutions that have the potential to meet the future technology needs and challenges within biotherapeutic clinical production and manufacturing.
This challenge is an open call for projects from universities and companies from all entities (academic, start-ups, larger companies, and institutes) within Australia and New Zealand. Applicants must have the ability and interest to travel to our South Korean or Singaporean based Fast Trak™ facilities. Have questions about that? Please contact us before applying. (*Pending detailed planning and careful monitoring of any restrictions issued by the authorities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual presence available in lieu of on-site visit etc.)
Stuart Newman PhD GAICD
CEO, Therapeutic Innovation Australia
Since completing a PhD in Antarctic Biology from the University of Tasmania, Stuart has built up considerable experience of science policy, pharmaceutical R&, grant funding, IP management, business development and commercialisation in the university and not-for-profit sectors. Since 2017 he has been the CEO of Therapeutic Innovation Australia Ltd, which manages research infrastructure funding from the Department of Education's NCRIS scheme. Under his leadership, TIA has focussed investment on the gap between research and development of high-value therapeutics, including pharmaceuticals, biologics, vaccines and cell & gene therapies. He also devised an innovative infrastructure access voucher scheme to enables early-stage projects to access the right expertise at the right time. He is based at the Translational Research Institute in Brisbane and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Stuart’s LinkedIn page
Jarrod Belcher BSc
Director Researcher Exchange and Development within Industry Initiative, MTP Connect
Jarrod has strong experience across the life sciences and education sectors and is a workforce development professional committed to assisting companies and industries achieve their potential through skilling workforces, across the Pacific, Asia and Middle East to government, NGO and corporate clients utilising innovative practices to embed and apply newly developed skills and behaviours. He led the delivery of the first vocational Bachelor of Biotechnology program delivered in TAFE and the delivery of biotechnology qualifications into China. Jarrod has a background in the biosciences with a BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Melbourne, and postgraduate qualifications in training and education and competitive manufacturing and was also a founding member of the Bioprocessing Network. Jarrod’s LinkedIn page
Daria Donati PhD
Head of Business Development & Strategic Technology Partnerships, Cytiva
Daria’s roots are in academia and public health. She has worked with the MIM-TDR (WHO) supporting capacity building in sub-Saharan Africa as International Liaison manager, leading global collaborations and funding management to support sustainable development projects in healthcare. In the business sector, she has over 20 years of diverse management and technology solution experience within biotech and biomanufacturing. Daria has worked at Cytiva since 2008 and has been in her current role in the Chief Technology Office since 2018. In 2017 Daria was named European Businesswoman of the Year 2017 in the category Life Sciences. Her engagement in public health and development of medicines against infectious diseases has brought her to live and work in more than five countries in Africa, Europe and North America. She served as principal investigator working on malaria, infectious diseases, immunology and vaccines at Karolinka Institute in Sweden, from which she earned one PhD in Experimental Medicine. Her second PhD is in Biotechnology and Transplant Immunology from The University of Pisa, Italy, and a Master in Science, with major in Molecular Biology from the University of Pisa, Italy. Daria’s LinkedIn page
Dr. Peter Guterstam, PhD
Product Manager, Next Generation Resins & Technologies, Cytiva
Peter is Global Product Manager at Cytiva with responsibility for products tailored for downstream processing of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products. He is based in Uppsala, Sweden. Peter earned is PhD in Neurochemistry from Stockholm University in 2009 based in research regarding delivery of oligo-therapeutics utilizing nanoparticles and conjugation to cell-penetrating peptides. Peter has been with Cytiva since 2003, primarily working in roles associated with oligonucleotide synthesis and purification. Since Cytiva’s acquisition of Puridify, Peter has the business responsibility to develop products based on the Fibro technology to complement Cytiva’s portfolio of chromatography resins. He has a passion to develop Cytiva’s downstream product portfolio and generate tailored solutions for the manufacture of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products. Peter’s LinkedIn Page
Daniel Floyd PhD
Director of Search and Evaluation, Cytiva
Daniel specializes in identifying the promising technologies coming out of the Asia Pacific region as well as Australia and New Zealand. Before joining Cytiva, Dan managed investments in life science tools startups at Esco Ventures in Singapore. Dan received his PhD in biochemistry and molecular pharmacology from Harvard University and completed postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard and the National University of Singapore. Currently based in Shanghai, Dan enjoys traveling and exploring the unique foods and cultures in China (pandemic conditions permitting). Daniel’s LinkedIn Page
This challenge focuses on a standard biologic therapeutic workflow. The scope will be performed at one of Cytiva’s Fast Trak™ facilities. Suggested projects must fit within the scope of the described process or be relatively easy to integrate into an existing workflow.
Examples of possible solutions and project scopes related to ‘Cell Engineering and Payload Development’:
- Cell line development – e.g. CHO, HEK 293T, mammalian, etc
- Novel vector systems and/or payload design technologies
- Novel therapeutics – e.g. cell therapies, gene therapies, oligos etc
- Novel vaccines – e.g. mRNA, subunit, attenuated virus etc
- Antibody based molecules – e.g. Monoclonal, Polyclonal, FABs etc
Examples of possible solutions and project scopes related to ‘Process development to industrial scale production’:
- Cell culture expansion and scalability
- Incremental titre and expression optimisation
- Novel media and/or bioreactor systems optimized for your biotherapeutic
- Process optimisation for downstream steps including but not limited Chromatography and Filtration
- Analytical and QC assays for biotherapeutic characterization
Examples of possible solutions and project scopes related to ‘Isolation and Purification of Biotherapeutics’ constitute the board that will select the most promising proposals. Finalists will be shortlisted to compete for first prize in front of the selection committee. The projects are selected based on the following criteria:
- Need and future technology demand of the proposed solution
- Potential to meet demand within project scope
- Commercial potential and scalability
Terms and conditions
This ANZ BioChallenge is open to Australia and New Zealand corporations and research institutions.
Challenge entry runs from September 16th – October 29th, 2021.
Prior to applying, please read the full terms and conditions of the Challenge which can be found via this link: https://info.cytivalifesciences.com/ANZ-biochallenge-terms-and-conditions.html
First - One (1) selected Winner shall receive up to AU$200,000.00 in Cytiva Products and Services
Second - One (1) selected Winner shall receive up to AU$100,000.00 in Cytiva Products and Services
Thirds - One (1) selected Winner shall receive up to AU$30,000.00 in Cytiva Fast Trak™ Training Vouchers
Fourth - One (1) selected Winner shall receive up to AU$20,000.00 in Cytiva Fast Trak™ Training Vouchers
Fifth - Five (5) selected Winner shall receive up to AU$2,000.00 in UTS BIF Training Vouchers
All prize values are in Australian Dollars
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Curious about continuous biomanufacturing? Join the Cytiva project team vlog series as we document our proof of concept trial and provide insights to help you efficiently plan and execute your project .
Curious about continuous biomanufacturing? Join the Cytiva project team vlog series as we document our proof of concept trial and provide insights to help you efficiently plan and execute your project .
Curious about continuous biomanufacturing? Join the Cytiva project team vlog series as we document our proof of concept trial and provide insights to help you efficiently plan and execute your project .
Curious about continuous biomanufacturing? Join the Cytiva project team vlog series as we document our proof of concept trial and provide insights to help you efficiently plan and execute your project .
Curious about continuous biomanufacturing? Join the Cytiva project team vlog series as we document our proof of concept trial and provide insights to help you efficiently plan and execute your project .
Curious about continuous biomanufacturing? Join the Cytiva project team vlog series as we document our proof of concept trial and provide insights to help you efficiently plan and execute your project .