About OPT
Olympic Protein Technologies (OPT) is a contract research organization focused on providing high-quality protein science services for clients and partners.
The quality of proteins is vital to the success of experiments that form the foundation of the discovery and development of therapeutics. Our staff has a wealth of collective experience in top-tier biotechnology companies successfully designing, producing and characterizing protein therapeutic candidates as well as critically important antigens and reagents. This experience includes solving problems associated with the expression/purification of challenging proteins. The aim of our team is to leverage this knowledge to provide the best experience and outcomes for our partners and clients by providing quality science delivered with full engagement and the highest standards, integrity, and data security.
OPT currently offers construct design, expression, protein production & characterization, biomolecular interaction analysis, and protein engineering services. We also can leverage our network of protein science contacts to provide access to other types of analyses, such as advanced biophysical technologies, for your project. As we grow we will build on our existing capabilities while broadening our offerings to include additional protein science services.
We are located in Seattle Washington USA.
Meet the OPT Team
Michael Wittekind
CEO
Prior to founding Olympic Protein Technologies, Mike served as the Chief Scientific Officer at ContraFect Corporation leading the team to build their discovery and development pipeline including CF-301, CF-296, and CF-404 for the treatment of infectious diseases. Prior to that he served as the Executive Director of Research for Amgen Inc., where he directed the Protein Science Departments at the Amgen-Seattle and Amgen-Massachusetts sites leading discovery efforts for multiple protein therapeutics including antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, bi-specifics, and protein fusions, as well as epitope mapping studies to support patent filings. Under his direction 11 programs were transitioned from discovery to the preclinical and clinical stages, including brazikumab, AMG-820, tezupelumab, and brodalumab (Siliq™). Prior to that he held positions at Phylos Inc. and at Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute, directing groups at multiple sites leading protein expression and structural biology research for protein and small molecule therapeutic efforts including atazanavir (Reyataz™/Evotaz™). Mike received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison followed by postdoctoral studies at the University of Washington and is the author of over 40 peer-reviewed publications and 13 patents.
Elham Ettehadieh
Elham Ettehadieh received her Master of Science degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of British Columbia and has authored publications in impactful journals including Science and Oncogene. Elham has over 20 years of research experience. She began her career in the biopharmaceutical industry at Immunex (later Amgen), joining the Protein Sciences group, where she developed thousands of mammalian expression constructs. Elham has a proven track record of accomplishments as a molecular biologist including vector design, expression cassette design, and expression optimization for challenging proteins. In addition to her other accomplishments while at Amgen, Elham played key roles in the discovery and characterization of AMG 820, tezupelumab, brodalumab (Siliq™), evolocumab (Repatha™), antibody-drug conjugate AMG 224, and bi-specifics AMG 570 and AMG 330.
Monique Howard
After obtaining her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Gonzaga University, Monique directly participated in the discovery and development of marketed small and large molecule biotherapeutics at Icos Corporation and Amgen Inc. She has extensive experience in biophysical and biochemical assay development, with specialized training with Dr David Myszka focused in kinetic analysis of biomolecular interactions through the use of surface plasmon resonance technology (SPR/Biacore). This expertise and experience spans every phase of the drug discovery and development process from early discovery research proof of concept studies, antibody screens, antibody maturation and epitope binning, to later stage molecular optimization using protein engineering and high throughput SPR screens, to late stage molecular characterization for regulatory submissions including biosimilarity and comparability studies. Monique played key roles in the characterization and development of novel molecules such as tadalafil (Cialis™), antibody-drug conjugate AMG 224, evolocumab (Repatha™), bi-specific AMG 330, as well as biosimilars ABP 215 and ABP 980.