Process development and manufacturing for biopharmaceuticals are often disjointed activities. Disconnects between groups within an organization can be aggravated by a lack of common terminology and poor data-management practices. Implementing a simple data model based on the ISA-88 standard for batch control can help companies capture process and facility data throughout their product life cycle (1). The first half of this two-part article illustrates how translating a process description to a structured electronic format could transform the bioprocessing…
Author Archives: Miriam Monge
Monoclonal Antibody Manufacturing
Continuing the theme of this occasional series, we examine the role of manufacturing in the supply chain in terms of what is required to deliver affordable medicines to patients. The industry has debated the relevance of manufacturing costs in the overall big picture (1). Rising manufacturing costs as a proportion of the overall selling price coupled with increased competitive pressures creates a strong drive to reduce manufacturing costs. However, cost of goods (CoG) is not the only strategic…
Influence of Process Development Decisions on Manufacturing Costs
As we have discussed, cost has not always featured highly during bioprocess development, in which traditionally the focus was on product quality, regulatory compliance, and speed to generate material for the clinic (1). As the industry matures in commercializing successful products, increasing competition (both from competing products and biosimilars) leads to issues of cost and manufacturability coming to the fore. Solutions adopted will depend on each organization: At one extreme are small biotech companies developing novel therapeutic proteins;…
Measuring Manufacturing Cost and Its Impact on Organizations
The first article in this periodic series reviewed the impact of cost pressures on the biopharmaceutical industry, in particular the challenges the industry faces in relation to high capital costs, complex processes, and long product development cycles (1). Here we examine what companies are doing to assess costs in decisions about process and technology choices relating to manufacturing of biologic drug substances. We will look into what companies are currently doing and what they need to be doing…
Delivering Affordable Biologics from Gene to Vial
In launching this new series of articles under the theme of delivering affordable biologics, from gene to vial, we intend to examine some of the challenges the bioprocess industry faces. We will discuss the implications of key cost challenges facing the industry, develop an understanding of the economics underlying development and manufacturing, and explore options for driving out cost. We wish to encourage dialogue and debate, so in addition to the articles we will also use webcast interviews…
Developing Best Practices for Disposables
The current lack of best practices for implementing single-use manufacturing technologies in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing is a recognized challenge in the industry. At the 2008 BioProcess International Conference and Exhibition in Anaheim there was a lively debate from end users perspectives, “Developing Best Practices for Disposables.” This discussion identified the work that various industry associations are doing in this area, outlined here. The Bioprocess Systems Alliance (BPSA www.bpsalliance.org) plastics trade organization has developed a series of guidelines relating to…