Intern - (Physical) chemistry - ATS

Job Description

We are looking for a motivated fourth-year bachelor or master (Physical) Chemistry student! Do you want to know what it's like to be part of one of the largest multinational companies in the pharmaceutical industry? We offer an internship opportunity within our ATS Material Science & Characterization (MS&C) department where you will have the freedom and space for your own initiative.

Intern - (Physical) Chemistry - ATS Material Science & Characterization

Welcome to our team

The ATS MS&C department is an essential hub in our organization. This department is focused on characterization and identification of solid-state properties of APIs and excipients. The team consists of 15 employees, all of whom have extensive knowledge and experience in materials science. The team works closely with other departments within the company to achieve the stated goals.

Your internship project:

To assure the continuity of the supply of all raw materials for a protein crystalline drug product the seed crystals must be replaced by an alternative source. Our drug product manufacturing uses seed crystals to control the crystallization of the API.

As an intern you work on the optimization of an alternative manufacturing method for the crystalline seeds:

• Increase the understanding of the fundamental crystallization process.
• Identify the critical process parameters and corresponding set-points to control the particle size and crystallinity of the protein seed crystals.
• Prepare the final protein drug product at lab scale to compare the effectiveness of your alternative protein crystal seeds in controlling the crystallization of the final protein crystalline drug product

The commercial manufacturing process of the drug product is downscaled to 0.7 L using a Mettler Toledo Optimax lab reactor. This reactor set-up is also evaluated as a representative model to simulate the commercial aseptic preparation of the protein drug product.

Your responsibilities:

• Perform the lab scale experiments to screen for the critical process parameters and optimize the set-points of the critical process parameters for manufacturing of the alternative protein seed crystals, DOE can be part of the project.
• Prepare the final protein drug product at lab scale to evaluate the effectiveness of your alternative seeds against no seeding and seeding with the current source of protein seed crystals.
• Implementation and use of an inline microscope to follow the crystallization process.
• Analyze the resulting material with a.o. laser diffraction, optical microscopy, determination of crystallinity and other techniques.
• Evaluate the results and suggest adjustments.
• Providing a fresh perspective within the department: your opinion matters.

The described tasks form the basic package and will often be performed independently after a proper training and learning period. These tasks may be supplemented with other projects and/or tasks on your own initiative or at the request of the organization.

What is required:

• A 4th year bachelor (HBO) or master student in (physical) chemistry
• You are familiar with crystallization and/or chemical process development
• You are enthusiastic about crystallization of APIs and/or proteins in the pharmaceutical industry
• You are searching for an internship where you have the freedom to take initiative
• You are fluent in English
• You are available for a period of 6 – 9 months for 5 days a week.

What we offer:

Interning at our company means working together with your team towards health in an international work environment. As an intern, you will have the opportunity to work closely with experts and learn from them. In addition, we offer:

• The chance to gain experience in the pharmaceutical industry
• An opportunity to showcase yourself for potential opportunities after your internship period
• A challenging and dynamic work environment with plenty of room for personal development and initiative
• Good guidance from an experienced specialist
• A gross monthly internship allowance of €500,- based on a 40-hour workweek