Dr Phil Brereton

Job Title: Senior Process Biochemist

Company: Monsanto Company

City of Residence: St Louis, USA

Year Graduated & Degree: BSc(Hons) 1990 PhD, 1995

My position is as a Process Biochemist working on bovine growth hormone (bGH or bST) with Monsanto. I work on the research side of the purification of the recombinant hormone. This often involves responding to a specific request from the manufacturing facility to any aspect of the isolation of the protein. It also requires ongoing improvements to the current process, whether incremental or major.

The challenges include working on a tight time frame for certain projects, where down time can severely impact the manufacturing facilities output. All changes are subject to regulatory approval through the FDA (Federal Drug Authority) and so data needs to be generated to be part of any submission process.

The focus, is always on improving margins, by yield increases, cost reductions or speedier purifications steps that don't impact the final product integrity. Improvements in other related steps in the production are also part of my research. These may include assay developments or finding and testing alternative raw materials

The position has shown me how much is required to have a saleable recombinant protein. From the researchers in the lab to statisticians, regulatory compliance, manufacturing and quality control and assurance, the amount of people involved is huge. In any one day, and sometimes all in the one day you have to work with people from all these groups.

think that while most positions require an ability to be easily adaptable to what can be a quickly changing work environment. For example my entire group was closed down less than 8 months after I started here and I was transferred to a completely new role within the company often an employer in a large company is looking for a specific skill set. For me, my protein purification ability is what has allowed me to bounce from position to position, picking up other skills as I go.

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