The 1st Bio2Brain Summer School took place from 25 to 29 July 2022 at the Biberach University of Applied Science (HBC) in sunny Biberach, Germany. The meeting included two workshops (Laboratory Workshop on Antibody Engineering & Characterisation as well as a Quality & Regulatory Workshop) and excursions to two pharmaceutical companies. The Bio2Brain Consortium Meeting was conducted on the last two days of the week.
The two first days were organised by Prof. Katharina Zimmermann. She organised a laboratory course about Antibody Engineering & Characterisation. The aim of this laboratory course was to screen an antibody library using the Phage Display technique and select the best binding antibodies to our selected targets. Then, a method to determine kinetic parameters of protein-protein interaction was used.
Prof. Chrystelle Mavoungou organised workshops on Regulatory & Quality Affairs concerning (bio)pharmaceutical manufacturing as well as the Regulatory Affairs Session. Different speakers from companies or public institutions gave lectures on Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and on Manufacturing in GMP Environment with ATMP (Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product) and transdermal delivery System toolbox. This was followed by a round table for the students to be able understand the challenges related to regulatory requirement and drug product development.
In addition, two company excursions took place, one at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG and one at Vektor Pharma TF GmbH to visit their production sites. Seeing these companies from the inside gave the ESRs a clearer idea of how they work and how they differ from public institutions. Differences between companies were also highlighted, and the ESRs had the opportunity to network and see the different possible working conditions.
In the late afternoon, a walking guided tour in the City of Biberach was organised followed by a Come-together dinner in a nice Italian restaurant in the center of Biberach. This was a great opportunity to exchange the impressions gained during the day and to slow down after three exciting days.
On Thursday and Friday, the whole consortium met for the presentation of the progress reports. Each ESRs shared their scientific progress followed by feedback round and open discussion. Overall, very good progress had been made and the collaboration within the consortium is growing closer. The management team shared the latest administrative tasks and the working groups had enough time to discuss the upcoming tasks.
After a week full of scientific and administrative but also team building elements, the Summer School in Biberach ended. We deeply thank Katharina and Chrystelle as well as the staff at HBC for the organisation and hospitality.