Annual Bioprocessing Symposium

2025 Annual Bioprocessing Symposium Schedule

Time	Activity
8:00 am - 8:30 am	Check-in and Breakfast (Sponsored by Waters Corp/Wyatt Technology)
8:30 am – 8:40 am	Welcome & Agenda Review - ABCAB Chair
8:40 am – 8:50 am	KGI Welcome - President
8:55 am – 9:15 am	Next Generation Antibody Drug Conjugates Speaker: Ahmed Hamdy
9:20 am – 9:30 am	Update from New Sub-committees
9:35 am – 10:10 am	40 Years of Cell Adaptation to Cell Culture Bioreactors and Fed-Batch Culture Conditions: The Key to Success for CHO and Cell Therapies? Speaker: Matt Croughan
10:15 am – 10:45 am	KGI Research Insights 10:15 am – 10:30 am Advancements in CAR T-cell Therapy Manufacturing Speaker: Kent Young, Kite 10:30 am – 10:45 am Superparamagnetic Silica for the Purification of Therapeutic-grade Plasmid DNA Speaker: Thelma C. Polanco, Grace Sr. Chemist
10:50 am – 11:00 am	Photo Session
11:05 am – 12:15 pm	Poster Session (TDP & Research)
12:15 pm – 1:15 pm	Lunch & Networking Session
1:20 pm – 1:55 pm	A Digital Journey Toward Tomorrow's Manufacturing Speaker: Victor Saucedo
2:00 pm – 2:30 pm	KGI Research Insights 2:00 pm – 2:15 pm Extracellular Matrices for Robust Culture of Msenchymal Stem Dells Speaker: Saravana Kumar Ganesan 2:15 pm – 2:30 pm Downstream Processing of Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) Speaker: Cole Avezedo
2:35 pm – 3:10 pm	Engineering the Future: Intelligent Automation for Cell Therapy Breakthroughs Speaker: Semsi Ensari, Kite
3:15 pm – 4:00 pm	Networking Event/Round Table Discussion
4:05 pm – 4:15 pm	Poster Award
4:20 pm – 4:40 pm	Wrap-Up/Close
4:15 pm – 5:30 pm	Reception/ABCAB Board Meeting

Doubletree Booking Info

• Group Code: ABC
• Arrival Date: 2/5/25
• Departure Date: 2/8/25
• Cut Off Deadline: 1/16/25

There is a 24hr cancellation policy for all reservations. And complimentary overnight parking.

About the Amgen Bioprocessing Center

The Amgen Bioprocessing Center (ABC) is the scientific and engineering infrastructure that KGI established in 2004 with a generous donation from the Amgen Foundation to bring together resources, people, and infrastructure with the sole purpose of educating scientists and engineers to manage complex biological processes scale-up. The ABC serves the community and biopharmaceutical industries by offering a full spectrum of training programs, which are designed for high-potential individuals to bridge the gap between traditional undergraduate programs in life sciences and engineering and the skills required for a successful career in biopharmaceutical and biomanufacturing industries.

The ABCAB Board

The Amgen Bioprocessing Center Advisory Board (ABCAB) consists of scientists, engineers, academics, and corporate executives who provide support and advice to KGI's Amgen Bioprocessing Center. The current ABCAB board includes representatives from the following organizations:

TDP

Terraform - Nigel Reed, Leonardo Tavormina, Emmanuel Mensah, David T. Guthary, Farnoush Sohbati

1. Quality by Design (QbD) Risk Analysis of an Allogeneic CAR T-Cell Therapy (Terraform)
2. Process Flow Diagram for Terraform: An Allogeneic CAR-T Cell Therapy for Multiple Myeloma
3. Material Balance Using SuperPro Designer for a CAR T-Cell Therapy (Terraform)

AndromiX - Victoria S. Apodaca, Eduardo Hernandez, Natasha L. Matti, Sean S. Ko, Kevin Pizarro

1. AndromiX® SuperPro: AAV6 Gene Therapy for Hemophilia A
2. AndromiX® QbD: AAV6 Gene Therapy for Hemophilia A
3. AndromiX® Process Flow Diagram: AAV6 Gene Therapy for Hemophilia A

BLINQ - Skyler Alan Santos, Edgar Baldeon, Mara S. Girgis, Ahmed Srass, Gopi Patel

1. Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) Manufacturing Process of BlinQ for Metastatic Breast Cancer
2. Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) Quality by Design (QbD) of BlinQ for Metastatic Breast Cancer
3. Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) Material Balance of BlinQ for Metastatic Breast Cancer

Research

1. Advancements in Protein Translocation: Integrating Cell-Free Protein Synthesis with Supported Lipid Bilayers - Sohel Meah
2. Evaluating the Impact of UF/DF on Protein Clearance and Its Role in Optimizing AAV Purification - Ana Mena Amores
3. Advancing Neural Aging Research: Exosome Delivery Across 2D/3D Models and Organoid Platforms - Sharon Chiang
4. Towards Affordable Gene Therapy by Enhancing Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) Production Through Upstream Process Development and Computational Approaches - Bea Portez
5. Development of a Membrane-Based Platform for pDNA Purification - David Guthary, Edgar Baldeon

1st Year

1. From Vector to Glow: Cloning and Expression of EGFP in E. Coli - Ruisi Hong, Jordan S. Cruz, Matthew Guzman
2. Phosphatase Kinetic Analysis: Exploring Enzyme-Substrate Interactions with p-Nitrophenyl Phosphate - Charles Koli, Christopher Cheung, Maria Cecilia Mena Amores
3. Streamlining ADC Production for Precision Oncology - Eric Son, Thomas Cheung, Rachel Wehrman

Victor Saucedo, Ph.D.

Victor has over 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry driving new technologies in development and manufacturing. He worked for Genentech in process development pursuing, among other things, real time process monitoring using Machine Learning (ML), Real Time Release Testing (RTRT) and faster development using real time spectroscopic techniques, robotics and digital solutions. He evaluated, developed and transferred new technologies and molecules to manufacturing. He then led the digital strategy across CMC at Vir Biotechnology. He is passionate about transforming the industry with new technologies. Victor completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering, focusing on modeling and advanced process control in biotechnology. He holds over 25 peer reviewed publications and 10 patents.

Semsi Enasri, Ph.D.

Senior Director, Kite Pharma

Semsi Ensari, Ph.D., is a highly accomplished biotechnology leader and Senior Director at Kite Pharma, where he spearheads the Process Technology and Materials Development team. His team is instrumental in developing and implementing cutting-edge technologies and materials, significantly advancing the manufacturing of next-generation cell therapies. With more than two decades of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, Dr. Ensari possesses a distinguished history of successfully designing, optimizing, and deploying robust manufacturing processes for cell and gene therapies, therapeutic proteins, and monoclonal antibodies. His leadership extends to building and managing high-performing teams, as demonstrated by his previous role establishing and leading Kite Pharma's Southern California MSAT team, providing critical technical support for both clinical and commercial manufacturing operations in cell therapy and viral vector production. Before joining Kite, Dr. Ensari held progressively senior roles in Research, Process Development, and Manufacturing at Schering-Plough, Ambrx, and Genentech, contributing significantly to the development and commercialization of numerous biologics. His expertise encompasses the entire biopharmaceutical manufacturing lifecycle, from initial process development and technology transfer to large-scale production and the integration of advanced engineering principles. Dr. Ensari holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Bogazici University, Turkey, and earned both Master's and Ph.D. degrees in Biochemical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine. His profound technical expertise and innovative leadership are driving substantial progress in the rapidly evolving field of cell and gene therapy manufacturing.

Matt Croughan, Ph.D.

Chief Technology Officer at PBS Biotech (80% time) and Industry Consultant

In January 2024, Matt joined PBS Biotech as Chief Technology Officer after consulting with the company for 17 years. PBS sells low-shear, Vertical-Wheel Bioreactors for cell therapy manufacturing and other purposes. Matt also maintains an ongoing consulting business in bioprocess development and manufacturing with 5 current clients and more than 100 total clients over the last 27 years. From 1988 to 1998, he worked at Genentech where he invented and scaled up the first licensed, high-density fed-batch cell culture process for recombinant protein manufacturing, a platform technology now used worldwide. From 2006 to 2014, he was the first Rathmann Professor and Director of the Amgen Bioprocessing Center at KGI in Claremont, CA. At KGI, he founded a new graduate bioprocessing program, now with hundreds of graduates. Based upon his service to KGI, Matt won the Student Choice Faculty Award (Top Teaching Award) for 2012-2013, was presented with the Godfather of Bioprocessing Cup by the Bioprocessing Class of 2013, and was identified as one of the top 25 People Key to the Success of KGI (awarded as part of KGI’s 25th Anniversary celebration). From 2013 to 2014, he was the Chief Technology Officer at Sapphire Energy, where he led the effort to economically produce renewable crude oil from algae. Matt has two chemical engineering degrees, a Ph.D. from MIT (1988) and BS from UC Berkeley (1983).

Ahmed Hamdy, MD

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Vincerx

Ahmed Hamdy, MD serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Vincerx. Dr. Hamdy founded Vincerx Pharma in 2019, leading the company through its public debut in 2021.

Prior to this, Dr. Hamdy co-founded Acerta Pharma, a pharmaceutical company acquired by AstraZeneca plc. At Acerta, he held multiple leadership roles, including Head of Early Clinical Development (2015–2019), Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer (2013–2015), and Board Member (2013–2016). Earlier, Dr. Hamdy served as Chief Medical Officer at Pharmacyclics LLC, a biopharmaceutical company, from 2008 to 2011.

Dr. Hamdy is also active in advisory and academic roles. He has been a Clinical Advisor and Board Member at Andes Biotechnologies since 2016, a member of the Dean’s Council at the Jack Baskin School of Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, since 2019, and a member of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation President’s Council since 2016.

Dr. Hamdy earned his MBBCh from the KasrAlainy School of Medicine at the University of Cairo, Egypt.