A well-packed chromatography column is critical to chromatographic separations at benchtop- and industrial-scales alike. Low-quality chromatography column packing can cause uneven mobile phase distribution and poor stationary phase contacting, ultimately leading to lower yields, less separation, and reduced product quality.

Designed for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and biopharma downstream processing professionals, from those building core competencies to experienced individuals, this course is designed to explain and demonstrate the factors that influence column packing from both a theoretical and hands-on perspective. Participants will pack and qualify columns at both laboratory/bench scales and pilot/process/manufacturing scales using a variety of equipment, including chromatography workstations, skids, and process-scale automated Axichrom and manual BPG columns from Cytiva. Attendees will work with compressible resins from various manufacturers, as well as the incompressible CHT™ Ceramic Hydroxyapatite Media from Bio-Rad.

This course is offered in collaboration with Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.

August 3-5, 2027

$2,500 registration fee

Register

Attend and you will learn

• Fluid mechanics of flow in packed beds
• Theoretical basis of mass transfer in packed beds
• Overview of downstream process development for biomanufacturing
• How to pack various compressible resins and the incompressible CHT Media
• How to pack both large manual columns and automated Axichrom columns
• Analytical methods for determining column packing quality
• Packing parameter selection to ensure a robust, reproducible packing procedure

Schedule

Day 1	Lectures • General Chromatography Principles • Mass Transfer Effects, HETP Lab Activities • Lab: Small Scale Column Packing – Slurry; Calculations & Column Packing; Evaluation/Qualification • Packing “Pressure” – HETP, bed height, pressure drop • Small Scale Column Packing – Factors Affecting HETP
Day 2	Lectures • Overview of Resins and Process Chromatography Lab Activities • Packing Compressible Resin in Axichrom300 • Performance Test w/ Compressible Resin in Axichrom300 • Packing Compressible Resin in BPG140 • Performance Test w/ Compressible Resin in BPG140
Day 3	Lecture • CHT Specifics Lab Activities • Packing CHT in Axichrom300 • Performance Test w/ CHT in Axichrom300 • Packing CHT in BPG140 • Performance Test w/ CHT in BPG140
	*Subject to change

Who should attend

• Production personnel responsible for column packing, writing packing procedures, and addressing column performance issues
• Manufacturing science/technical services personnel responsible for writing packing procedures and addressing column performance issues
• Process development scientists and engineers responsible for developing chromatography packing procedures or working with chromatographic columns at bench, pilot, and process/manufacturing scales
• Systems engineers interested in the design and handling aspects of columns based on production operations

Instructors

• John van Zanten, Ph.D.
• Erik Verona, Ph.D.
  Field Application Scientist, Process Chromatography, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.
  Erik Verona received his Ph.D. degree in biomedical sciences from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio where he continued with his postdoctoral work on a recombinant chimeric receptor protein that blocks signaling of all three isoforms of transforming growth factor beta. Erik has over 25 years of R&D experience including cell and tissue culture, cancer biology, bacteriology, blood fractionation, and all aspects of recombinant protein production and purification.  His industry experience includes roles at Chiron, Genentech, INCELL, Cone Bioproducts, and Terapio where he led the upstream, downstream and formulation process development for a recombinant protein radiation countermeasure.