Since 26 years, the SPICA Symposia gather key players and experts involved in downstream processing for the Life Science industry. The goal is to share the latest innovations, create and develop new research axes and deploy the purification techniques for the industrial development of molecules with increasing complexity and constraints.

On the opening day of the Symposium (September 30, 2012) six different workshops will be proposed, where worldwide experts will share their experience to introduce and describe the main fields of Preparative Chromatography. The topics of the workshops have been renewed in order to better meet the expectations and needs of the participants.

During the symposium, the 3 days of sessions will cover various technologies including membranes, crystallization, filtration and extraction, with a particular emphasis on Preparative and Industrial Chromatography. As a response to current interest in the development of new drugs, focus will be put both on small and large molecules.

The covered topics will range from process development to industrial applications of the purification techniques. The latest advances in process modelling and innovative processes (ie. multicolumn technologies) will be highlighted, keeping the regulatory, environmental and economic aspects into consideration. The evolution of the stationary phases will also be part of the program as well as the latest trends in membrane, extraction and other purification technologies.

During the latest events, the shared knowledge of the different communities created synergies and fruitful discussions that will also be promoted during the 2012 edition.

SPICA 2012 is the place where you will have the unique opportunity to meet all key downstream suppliers. For everyone - chemists, engineers and biotechnologists - with requirements on purity, yield and productivity, the Symposium will provide an ideal source of new ideas and opportunities to interact with colleagues from both academia and industry, and to discover the latest trends and needs in the downstream area.

A careful selection of the keynote speakers will provide a solid base to ensure the scientific quality and attractiveness.

All participants are invited to submit abstracts for scientific communications that will be peer-reviewed for their acceptance by the Scientific Committee. Out of the submitted proposals, 35 oral communications will be selected by the Scientific Committee. The other accepted abstracts will get the opportunity to be presented as posters.