BLINN STUDENTS UTILIZE ONE-OF-A-KIND FACILITY

  

For Blinn College students preparing for a career in biotherapeutics, there may be no better place in the nation to gain hands-on skills than the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing (NCTM).

Aseptic Processing story
Vera Ferreira, an industry expert with more than 30 years of experience in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, assists second-year student Armando Tejeda (College Station) in aseptic processing at the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing (NCTM) on the campus of Texas A&M University

This semester marks the first time Blinn Therapeutics Manufacturing students have begun practicing in the NCTM, a first-in-class, flexible biopharmaceutical workforce training and good manufacturing practices (GMP) facility located on the Texas A&M University campus. The NCTM provides an interactive learning environment for students, researchers and industrial partners through its 48,000-square-foot academic wing that includes state-of-the-art lecture halls, teaching wet labs, a mock GMP process suite, cell culture facilities and a computer laboratory.

“The exposure students get through using the NCTM is an incredibly important part of the program,” said John Ferreira, Blinn Therapeutics Manufacturing Program director.  “They are exposed to the latest technologies used in the quality manufacturing of biologic and therapeutic products. They’re studying in the same facility in which a GMP company, Kalon Biotherapeutics, operates daily. It’s an opportunity students can’t find anywhere else.”

Ferreira is a 30-year veteran of the biotech industry. During his term as director of quality for Caliber Biotherapeutics, Ferreira was assigned to assess compliances measures, overall layout, and product and personnel flow of the NCTM during construction. He joined the Blinn faculty in May 2013 to develop curriculum for the new program in response to Texas A&M’s 2012 announcement that it would be designated as one of three biodefense centers in the nation.

“Blinn’s Therapeutics Manufacturing Program addresses the local need for trained technicians to support the biotech corridor right here in Bryan,” Ferreira said. The use of the NCTM better prepares students to enter the industry or to seek more advanced degrees.”

In a recent lab session, students learned an aseptic processing technique from Vera Ferreira, an industry expert with more than 30 years of experience in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and large-scale vaccine manufacturing.

“We’re using the equipment we’ll use in the industry,” said Goran Sabjic, a second-year student from College Station. “The professors are extremely qualified and the standards are high, just as they would be in a real-life laboratory setting.”

For more information on Blinn’s Therapeutics Manufacturing Program, visit www.blinn.edu/therapeutics.   Story and photos courtesy of Blinn College.

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