ISC 2026 Short Course 5 - Oligonucleotides and Other Biopharmaceuticals
International Symposium on Chromatography: ISC 2026 Short Course 5 - Oligonucleotides and Other Biopharmaceuticals
ISC 2026
The International Symposium on Chromatography (ISC) represents the oldest conference series on separation science. ISC symposia have been organised since 1956 in each even year. ISC is one of the premier meetings series for discussion of all modes of chromatography and separation science with a broad coverage of techniques and applications.
The major focus of the symposium will be on the impact of chromatography and separation science to meet the needs of the pharmaceutical, environmental, food and health industry, as well as science and medicine. The symposium programme will reflect these themes and highlight new challenges and emerging opportunities for the science and marketing of separation and detection systems and methods.
As an integral part of the scientific programme of lectures and poster sessions, an international exhibition and vendor seminars on instrumentation and services for chromatography, separation science and mass spectrometry will be organised. ISC 2026 will provide the perfect forum for attendees from academia, industry and government research institutions for scientific exchange and networking.
ISC 2026 SYMPOSIUM KEY DATES
6-10 SEPTEMBER 2026
- 15 January 2026: Opening of Early-bird Registration & Abstract submission
- 11 March 2026: Deadline for abstract submission (orals)
- 21 April 2026: Sending acceptance letters (orals)
- 15 May 2026: Deadline of early-bird registration and payment & Author registration deadline (orals)
- 1 June 2026: Preliminary detailed program on web
- 1 June 2026: Deadline for abstract submission (posters)
- 16 June 2026: Sending acceptance letters (posters)
- Authors who submit their abstracts with a poster preference by 5 May 2026 will be notified of the outcome by 12 May 2026 and will have the opportunity to register at the early-bird rate until 15 May 2026.
- 30 June 2026: Author registration deadline (posters)
- 30 July 2026: Deadline for abstract submission (late-breaking posters)
- without the possibility of competing for the Best Poster Award
- 11 August 2026: Sending acceptance letters (late-breaking posters)
- 18 August 2026: Author registration deadline (late-breaking posters)
- 25 August 2026: Deadline for late registration & payment
- 6-10 September 2026: Symposium
REGISTRATION
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM
SHORT COURSES
SC 5 Oligonucleotides and Other Biopharmaceuticals
🗓️ SUNDAY, 6 SEPTEMBER 2026
🕗 12:30 – 15:45
Analysis of nucleic acid and protein-based pharmaceuticals
The pharmaceutical industry has undergone a profound transformation over the past four decades driven by continuous innovation in therapeutic and prophylactic modalities. While small molecules have been the foundation of medicine for ages, successive waves have introduced biologics such as recombinant proteins and antibodies, in addition to nucleic acid and cell-based products. Each wave has expanded our ability to treat diseases but also challenged us, analytical scientists, to build a toolbox to characterize these ever more complex modalities. This short course will cover chromatographic and mass spectrometric methods for analyzing nucleic acid and protein-based medicines including antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) and larger nucleic acids such as messenger RNA (mRNA), in addition to monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates (AOCs).
Lecturers
Koen Sandra
- Koen Sandra received a PhD degree in Biochemistry from the Ghent University, Belgium in 2005. After his PhD, he joined Pronota, a molecular diagnostics company where he was active in developing analytical platforms for disease biomarker discovery and in setting up external collaborations. In 2008, he joined RIC, a company that provides analytical support to the chemical, life sciences and pharmaceutical industries, where he holds the position of CEO. As a non-academic scientist, Koen Sandra is author of over 50 highly cited scientific papers and has presented his work at numerous conferences as an invited speaker.
ISC 2026: Koen Sandra
Amanda Guiraldelli Mahr
- Amanda Guiraldelli Mahr is a senior scientist at the RIC group in Belgium, specialized in chromatographic and LC-MS strategies for biopharmaceutical and small molecule analysis. With more than 17 years of experience in analytical development, she leads the design and qualification of procedures for release testing, stability studies, and structural characterization of monoclonal antibodies, peptides, and oligonucleotides, with strong expertise in SEC, IEX, RPLC, HILIC, HIC, and high-resolution MS workflows. She drives the implementation of ICH Q2(R2), Q14, and Analytical Quality by Design (AQbD) principles in collaboration with global biopharmaceutical partners. Amanda serves as a member of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Pharmaceutical Analytical Lifecycle and Data Science Expert Committee and is a board member of the ECA Analytical Quality Control Group. Before joining RIC, she spent more than 12 years at USP, where she worked both as a Senior Scientist – leading method development and validation projects, impurity analysis by LC-MS/GC-MS, and reference standards characterization by LC-HRMS – and as a Scientific Affairs Manager, contributing to major standards such as <1220> and <1225> and driving initiatives in AQbD, predictive modeling, and analytical procedure lifecycle management. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy–Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry, and has been a visiting scientist at TU Berlin and Leiden University, focusing on LC-HRMS-based protein analysis.
ISC 2026: Amanda Guiraldelli Mahr
