Featured Customer: Bryan Troxell, Ph.D.

Novel gene therapies using adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) as vectors are one of the fastest-growing subfields in modern biotherapeutics. While AAVs do not typically present a concern for a strong immune response, pre-existing neutralizing antibodies can thwart their efficacy in RNA delivery. StrideBio in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, specializes in engineering novel AAV capsids that avoid such neutralization. Dr. Bryan Troxell kindly provided some insights into his role at StrideBio and how the DynaPro® Plate Reader provides value in AAV development and production.

Background and current use of Wyatt instruments:

I am a Principal Scientist in the Quality Control and Analytical Development group at StrideBio, Inc. Prior to joining StrideBio, I was a member of the Biotechnology group at Alcami Corporation where I performed analytical testing of APIs and drug products to serve the needs of clients within the pharmaceutical industry. This work was conducted under cGMP conditions for all phases of drug development (pre-clinical/R&D through phase III). As a Microbiologist by training, I received my Ph.D. in Microbiology from North Carolina State University and completed post-doctoral work at Indiana University School of Medicine and North Carolina State University.

The high throughput of the DynaPro Plate Reader III complements many of our quality control workflows. The combination of the physical assessment of rAAV stability along with biological readouts through cell-based assays affords the ability to equate physical changes to biological performance. By analyzing a combination of product characteristics, we are able to evaluate potentially important quality metrics. These quality control data provide important insight into the analytical performance of rAAV in response to different physical/chemical conditions.