The COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the biopharmaceutical industry’s need to create and implement chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) strategies that can expedite drug development during times of crisis. This bold topic was the premise of the 2021 CASSS Well-Characterized Biotechnology Products (WCBP) forum titled “Special Edition: Creating CMC Strategies for Pandemics and Beyond.” Held virtually on 25–28 January and 1–4 February 2021, the eight-day event addressed manifold considerations for SARS-CoV-2 virus prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Five hundred attendees…
Author Archives: Sarah Kennett
Implementation of Established Conditions: Learnings from a “Sharing Science Solutions” Workshop
The International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) guideline Q12 (1) (step 4 sign-off in November 2019) is in the process of being implemented in a number of regulatory regions. The document provides additional frameworks for pharmaceutical life-cycle management. It is intended to support globally harmonized regulatory tools such as established conditions (ECs) and product life cycle management (PLCM) documents to facilitate postapproval changes to chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC). Although a harmonized framework…
Next-Generation Biotechnology Product Development, Manufacturing, and Control Strategies, Part 2: Process Modeling and Analytics
Part 1 of this article focused on the first two sessions of a CASSS chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) forum entitled “Next-Generation Biotechnology Product Development, Manufacturing, and Control Strategies,” which took place on 16–17 July 2018 in Gaithersburg, MD. Those sessions focused on upstream and downstream process technologies and strategies (1). Part 2 highlights the final two conference sessions on process modeling, control, and analytics. Process Modeling and Control The third conference session was “Modeling and Control Strategies.” Advancements in…
Next-Generation Biotechnology Product Development, Manufacturing, and Control Strategies, Part 1: Upstream and Downstream Strategies
Future biomanufacturing must address industry drivers, including the need for decreasing cost of goods (CoG), increasing market globalization, shortening development time for pipeline products, reducing risk to patient supply, and improving product quality. A CASSS chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) forum entitled “Next-Generation Biotechnology Product Development, Manufacturing, and Control Strategies” took place on 16–17 July 2018 in Gaithersburg, MD, to address those opportunities. Advanced technologies include single-use bioreactors, alternating tangential-flow (ATF) systems used during fermentation, modular and closed process equipment,…
CMC Strategy Forum on Combination Products for Biopharmaceuticals: Emerging Trends in Development, GMPs, and Regulatory Expectations
On 26 January 2015, CASSS hosted a program in its ongoing series of semiannual Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) Strategy Forums at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. Since this series’s inception in 2002, each installment has focused on one of a wide array of topics spanning the fields of biopharmaceutical product development, manufacturing, analysis, quality, and regulation. For this forum, the program committee chose to devote a full program to a topic that was previously the focus of an…
CMC Strategy Forum Special Focus Series: Part 2 Product-Related Impurities, An Overview
Introduction by Cheryl Scott The CMC Strategy Forums focus on relevant chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) issues throughout the life cycle of a therapeutic and thereby foster collaborative technical and regulatory interaction. Forum chairs share information with regulatory agencies to help them merge good scientific and regulatory practices. Outcomes of forum meetings are published in BioProcess International and on the CASSS website. This process is meant to help ensure that biopharmaceutical products manufactured with advancing technologies in a regulated environment…