Author Archives: S. Anne Montgomery

Cultivating Better Working Relationships with Contract Manufacturing Organizations: A Panel Discussion

by

On 21 March 2018, a panel discussion during BPI West in San Francisco addressed ways to improve working relationships between sponsors and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs). Our goal as organizers was to avoid retreading overfamiliar ground: Many outsourcing articles stress the importance of good communication without delving into actual strategies for improvement. So I asked the panelists to focus on the word better and what that actually means in this context. The most productive way to approach such a discussion…

June 20, 2018

May 2018 From the Editor

by

So many manuscripts we receive begin by mentioning the “ever-growing†or “ever-expanding world of biopharmaceuticals.†For anyone who’s been covering this industry for a while, that’s an understandable impression — but it’s not always easy to express. Despite increasing in maturity, that “world†remains on the cutting edge of science and technologies for innovative therapeutic development, and its entrepreneurial spirit remains strong. But we’re all accessing information in different ways now than in the past. We need and want that…

June 1, 2018

Flexibility, Automation, and Leadership: Drug-Sponsor Perspectives on Modern Biomanufacturing Facility Design

by

The title of this featured report — Smart(er) Facilities — came about in conversations with our KNect365 colleagues as they worked to plan this year’s BPI West conference, which took place 19–22 March 2018 in San Francisco, CA. For decades, biopharmaceutical facilities have incorporated cutting-edge designs for supporting processes, products, and human development. Each year, design innovations are rewarded for creating workspaces that facilitate both worker comfort and essential movement of promising drug candidates toward commercialization. In that context, biomanufacturing…

April 20, 2018

Driving Cell Therapy Innovation: Applying Key Lessons from the Evolution and Commercialization of Protein-Based Therapies

by , , , , and

After many trials and errors — and milestones — regenerative medicine has become a mainstream part of the biopharmaceutical industry, supported by at least 670 companies and clinics of all sizes. But many experiences in the protein-based industry segment can be leveraged to further improve successful commercialization of advanced therapies. At the 2017 Biotech Week Boston conference, BioProcess International editor in chief Anne Montgomery hosted a panel of industry cell therapy experts to discuss key lessons that can be gleaned…

March 27, 2018

January-February From the Editor

by

Happy New Year! This is our first combined January–February issue, but it should give you plenty of reading material to compensate for the absence of a January issue. There are some new approaches at work for us this year that bring new opportunities for both end-user and supplier authors, as well as offering us additional options for more timely publication of high-priority information. As you look at our table of contents, the most obvious change is the change to sponsored…

February 16, 2018

December From the Editors

by , and

On the night of Wednesday, 27 September 2017, the fourth annual Battle of the Biotech Bands raised US$110,000 for the bands’ selected charities. More than 800 guests enjoyed refreshments at the Royale Nightclub in Boston and watched Led Zymmelin (pictured right, representing Sanofi Genzyme) walk away with the top prize. They raised money for the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). The crowd was a mix of Biotech Week Boston attendees; arts and entertainment critics; developers, contractors, architects, engineers, furniture…

December 13, 2017

November From the Editor

by

What we’ve come to know as the annual BioProcess International Conference has become a lot more than that. BPI magazine and conference, previously separate but collaborative business units, now live within KNect365: Informa’s relatively new business unit bringing together common interests of several new and existing businesses in the company’s “knowledge and networking†portfolio. It includes products and events from other groups that have joined Informa over the past decade or so. Some of those acquisitions may be familiar to…

November 16, 2017

Hands-On Training for Biopharmaceutical Careers: Trainees Gain Practical Experience in Realistic Production Environments

by and

At the April meeting of the BPI International Summit (25−26 April 2017) delegates were treated to a tour of a new training facility. The Biotech Training Facility is about a 20-minute drive from the Amsterdam airport and located in the Leiden Bioscience Park. The park houses companies that employ ~18,000 life science workers. In addition, the Leiden University and the Leiden Academic Medical Center complement the dynamic high-tech environment that facilitates establishment of such a knowledge and experience center as…

October 20, 2017

October From the Editor

by

Often I am dismayed to hear local news reporting of early stage clinical milestones for therapies that may still be years in development. I assume that those reporters and news editors receive pretty much the same press releases that we do here at BPI. But I worry that a more general readership hears only the hype, missing details of the process and time required for approval. More than one letter to the editor has opined that “delays†in bringing new…

October 19, 2017

Emerging Markets: Current Insights into the State of Global Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing

by and

Opportunities for establishing strong biopharmaceutical capabilities are expanding across the globe. This e-book seeks to encapsulate the current state of emerging markets/countries, tracing key elements above and offering examples to show where (in the world) the biopharmaceutical industry is expanding and securing its footholds. Generally, to succeed in these markets, foreign companies must exercise efficient resource management and control, show creativity and receptiveness to cultural differences, develop new strategies, and manage expectations. Working with local partners can provide access to…

August 31, 2017