Driving the expansion of mRNA into the therapeutic sphere

Dr. Alejandro Becerra is a Principal Applications Scientist and Global Purification Technical Lead. Alejandro has over 14 years of experience in downstream processing and customer support having worked as Purification Team Manager and other bioprocess engineering roles prior to joining Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2018. Dr. Becerra is a subject matter expert in preparative chromatography with expertise in the development, optimization and scale-up of antibody, recombinant protein and viral vector purification processes. Alejandro holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University.

Andreas Kuhn has worked with RNA for almost thirty years. This started with his diploma and PhD theses on the structure and function of small non-coding RNAs using biochemical and molecular biology methods. In his post-doctoral work, Andreas studied RNA-protein interactions in the spliceosome in yeast and later worked on small molecules to affect pre-mRNA splicing. His work on mRNA-based immunotherapies began in 2007 in the academic group of Ugur Sahin at the University Clinic Mainz, and Andreas joined BioNTech SE shortly after its founding in 2008. In his current role as Senior Vice President RNA Biochemistry & Manufacturing the main focus is expanding proprietary technologies to increase the efficacy of mRNA-based therapies and to develop and optimize GMP-compatible manufacturing processes and analytical methods for RNA. He has co-authored numerous publications and patents ranging from basic research on RNA to its application as a therapeutic agent and vaccine.

Metin Kurtoglu, M.D., Ph.D., is a medicaloncologist board certified in internal medicine. Dr. Kurtoglu’s clinical andbasic science research career spans over 20 years and has focused on developingnovel targets for drug-resistant cancer cells and cancer stem cells, includingmultiple myeloma. He has also been an investigator in various cancerimmunotherapy trials.  

CartesianTherapeutics is pioneering RNA cell therapies in and beyond oncology, withthree assets in clinical trials for autoimmune, oncologic and respiratorydisorders. The investigational therapies are manufactured at Cartesian’s cGMPmanufacturing facility.