Register today for an exciting virtual Biotech Connector event focused on Next-generation Vaccine Formulation and Delivery.

Join fellow biotech professionals for this exclusive series that brings together the area biotech community for an inside look at local biotech advances. This Biotech Connector will be held in a hybrid format. You may join via Webex or in person.

Invited Speakers:

Stephan T. Stern, PhD, DABT

Director of Research & Development, Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research

Talk title: “The Future of Tissue Targeted Lipid Nanoparticle Delivery”

Abstract:

The earliest example of in vivo expression of exogenous mRNA was by direct intramuscular injection in mice, without the aid of a delivery vehicle. The current state of the art for therapeutic nucleic acid delivery is lipid nanoparticles (LNP), which are composed of cholesterol, a helper lipid, a pegylated lipid, and an ionizable amine-containing lipid. Liver is the primary organ of LNP accumulation following intravenous administration and is also observed to varying degrees following intramuscular and subcutaneous routes. Delivery of nucleic acid to hepatocytes by LNP has therapeutic potential, but there are many disease indications that would benefit from non-hepatic LNP tissue and cell population targeting, such as cancer, and neurological, cardiovascular, and infectious disease. My presentation will concentrate on the current efforts to develop tissue targeted LNP constructs for therapeutic nucleic acid delivery.

Bio:

Dr. Stern is the Director of Research and Development and Head of the Pharmacology and Toxicology Section of the Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory. His areas of expertise include biochemical toxicology of the liver and kidney, analytical methodology, DMPK and nanomedicine formulation. Prior to joining the NCL, Dr. Stern was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. He received his B.S. degree in biochemistry from the University of Rochester and his Ph.D. in toxicology from the University of Connecticut at Storrs. Dr. Stern is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology

Puneet Tyagi, PhD

Associate Director with the Dosage Form Design and Development group, AstraZeneca

Talk title: “Vaccine Formulations: Syringes and Beyond”

Abstract:

Thanks to the ongoing pandemic, vaccines have been brought back into the limelight. In this presentation, different approaches to vaccine formulation development, including the conventional formulations, the current lipid nanoparticles, and the near future microneedles formulations for vaccines will be discussed.

Bio:

Dr. Tyagi is the Associate Director with the Dosage Form Design and Development group at AstraZeneca based in Maryland, USA. Puneet leads a team of scientists in the area of biologics formulation development, with a focus on long-acting formulations, transdermal delivery, and oral delivery of biologics. Puneet received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in pharmaceutical sciences from India, and his PhD from the University of Colorado. Puneet Tyagi is a co-inventor of several U.S. and international patents and has published extensively in the field of drug delivery.