Butler Michael

Biography

Dr. Butler is the Scientific Director of the NSERC-sponsored strategic network grant for `Production of single-type glycoform monoclonal antibodies ‘(MabNet)’ that was awarded in 2010 to the University of Manitoba for a 5-year program ($5million). MabNet is a consortium of 12 industry, 10 University and 2 government agency partners, with the research program led by 20 investigators. The objectives of the research have been to develop optimal process technologies for the production and purification of monoclonal antibodies with defined glycosylation characteristics. MabNet’s focus is widely recognized as essential for the biomanufacture of antibodies with improved and consistent clinical efficacy. The program has focused on clinically relevant monoclonal antibodies such as Hereceptin and a novel camelid-based antibody that shows potential for enhanced tissue penetration. The research has been conducted under an integrated plan involving 4 major themes that span the areas of structural analysis, upstream processing, cell culture control and downstream processing.

Research Interest

This involves the industrial application of animal cells to the large scale commercial production of biologicals such as monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins and viral vaccines. The industrially important cell lines include hybridomas capable of secreting monoclonal antibodies, transfected cells (eg: CHO) for specific protein expression and Vero (or MRC-5) cells grown on microcarriers which are important for vaccine production. The focus of the research activity is to characterise and control the cell culture process so that product synthesis is maximised. This can be achieved by enhancement of cell specific protein expression or by achieving high cell densities. Post-translational modification of glycoproteins is important to ensure the biological activity of products and is an extremely important process in mammalian cells.