Organizations outsource tasks to contract service providers for diverse reasons ranging from internal resource constraints (particularly in virtual or start-up companies) to overflow capacity, or to avoid or delay capital or resource investment. The scope of outsourced work varies from limited tasks such as an outsourced assay to complete process development and GMP manufacturing. In a highly competitive outsourcing market, customers expect successful and timely execution of the outsourced work, but they also seek “added value” to the overall program.…
Author Archives: BPI Contributor
Want a Good Partnership?
One evening, during dinner with several colleagues, the topic of company collaborations and contract organizations came up. I related my own experiences as party to a failed effort and the lessons I’d learned. As our conversation continued, our late night conclusions were simple: Effective partnerships are the means by which we achieve market success, but building such partnerships is complicated. One mistake after another can quickly cascade into a company’s collapse. Here I review six ways to ruin your company…
Products, Services, and Literature
Stainless Steel Sanitary Fittings Product: Swagelok Sanitary Fittings Features: Offered in up to 12-in. diameters in a variety of configurations, Swagelok sanitary fittings are available to meet ASME-BPE and 3-A standards, as well as ISO 2852 requirements. They feature polished and unpolished inside- and outside-diameter surface finishes. Swagelok sanitary fittings are typically used in biopharmaceutical and food, beverage, and dairy process systems, such as water and fermentation. The vacuum annealed, cold form tubular fittings minimize the likelihood of stress corrosion…
Global Follow-On Biologics Conference
The future legal and regulatory pathway for follow-on biologic (FOB) products will be as complex as are protein products themselves. Questions range from how to be certain of the similarity, safety, and efficacy of follow-on products to what will be the key drivers for success in the future marketplace for follow-on biologics — and many more. As approval from the US legislature becomes a reality, innovator and FOB companies will prepare for the future by taking a proactive, not reactive,…
Global Vaccine Commercialization
Defining the optimal market entry strategy for a vaccine is challenging. Worldwide, vaccine markets are commoditized andvery heterogeneous. In addition, with growth and evolving technology, the business model in the vaccines sector is changing. From the traditional vaccine model, constituted mainly of pediatric vaccines used to prevent a well-known series of viral and bacterial infections in large cohorts of healthy patients, we are seeing the emergence of a more pharma-like model that has been stimulated by new technologies, innovation, and…
BMD Summit
Implement Disposables and Operational Excellence Strategies to Optimize Facility Use and Achieve Cost and Waste Reduction Cost pressures on the biopharmaceutical industry are mounting from domestic consumer demand, the growth of biosimilars, and emerging manufacturers around the globe. For organizations to remain competitive and gain sustainable cost reductions, they must drive innovation and accelerate their rate of implementation of novel technologies. IBC’s fourth international BMD Summit once again provides the latest case studies, regulatory updates, and new strategies for incorporating…
Products, Services, and Literature
Mixing Options Product: PSU-20 microcompressor Application: Biotechnology/biopharmaceutical development and academic research Features: A new bench-top heavy-duty platform shaker provides three mixing functions (orbital motion, reciprocation, and vibration) and the flexibility of a range of interchangeable platforms. It includes a high-capacity, four-level “hotel” format platform to minimize its footprint. The mixing functions are fully programmable and can be set for continuous or timed operation from one minute to 96 hours to achieve optimum mixing in a single mode or in different…
Proactive Debottlenecking
It wasn’t so long ago that people in the biotherapeutics industry talked about a “capacity bottleneck” to describe the difficulty faced by bioprocessors as their many products moved forth through development to require production at larger and larger scales (1). Expression technologies at the time were making proteins at levels suggesting that huge amounts of manufacturing capacity would be needed soon. Just after the turn of the century, product titers (in terms of protein present per liter of culture broth/supernatant)…
Production and Economics of Biopharmaceuticals
Q&A with the Scientific Advisors HOWARD L. LEVINE president of BioProcess Technology Consultants, Inc. How long have you worked for your current employer, and where did you work before that? I’ve worked for my current employer since 1994. Before BioProcess Technology Consultants, I worked as vice president of manufacturing operations for Repligen. What degrees do you hold, and from where? PhD in chemistry from the University of Chicago (1978); BS in chemistry from the University of Southern California (1975) Who…
Scaling Up from Bench through Commercialization
Q&A with the Scientific Advisors THOMAS C. RANSOHOFF vice president and senior consultant at BioProcess Technology Consultants, Inc. How long have you worked for your current employer, and where did you work before that? I’ve worked for BioProcess Technology Consultants for six years (since 2002). Before joining BPTC as a senior consultant, I held senior positions in manufacturing, development, and operations for several biotechnology companies including Repligen, Dyax, and TranXenoGen. What degrees do you hold, and from where? I hold…