Economics

Continuous Processes: Disposables Enable the Integration of Upstream and Downstream Processing

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Despite decades of advancement in characterization analytics, biotherapeutics still are largely defined by the manufacturing processes used to make them. This linking of process to clinical results (and thus to commercial success) has made the biopharmaceutical industry somewhat risk-averse when it comes to the adoption of new technologies. That desire to “derisk†biomanufacturing through better process understanding — as well as the need to adapt to uncertainties in patient population size through process flexibility — in turn drives the need…

May 19, 2017

The Value of Single-Use and Other Flexible Technologies

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The biopharmaceutical industry is adding mammalian cell culture capacity at rates that we haven’t seen in over a decade. Over the past five years (2012–2016), we estimate that industry-wide capacity has increased from 3.4 ML to 4.0 ML, an increase of 18% (1). We estimate that industry-wide capacity will increase over the coming five years (2016–2020) to 5.7 ML, an increase of >40%. Clearly, this growth is a response to the continued increase in demand for biopharmaceutical products and to…

May 19, 2017

Opportunities and Challenges in Biosimilar Development

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A biosimilar biotherapeutic product is similar (but not identical) in terms of quality, safety, and efficacy to an already licensed reference product. Unlike generic small molecules, it is difficult to standardize such inherently complex products based on complicated manufacturing processes. Table 1 describes the main differences between biosimilar and generic drug molecules. The global biosimilar market is growing rapidly as patents on blockbuster biologic drugs expire (Table 2) and other healthcare sectors focus on reduction of costs. Biologics are among…

May 18, 2017

Introduction: Tackling the Technical and Regulatory Challenges of Biosimilar Development

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In a just a few years, the biopharmaceutical industry has gone from questioning the feasibility of “follow-on biologics†(around the time of BPI’s first issues) to fearing them (when we published our first supplement on the topic in 2013) to the acceptance and strategizing of today. Perhaps because of its more socialized medicine, Europe led the way in biosimilar regulation and approved its first such product nearly 10 years before the first US biosimilar launch in 2015. In between came…

April 18, 2017

BioPhorum Operations Group Technology Roadmapping, Part 3: Enabling Technologies and Capabilities

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Although great strides have been made over the past 20 years to increase the productivity and robustness of manufacturing processes for biopharmaceuticals, the cost and complexity of their development and manufacturing remain high, especially in comparison with those of small-molecule pharmaceuticals. Process improvements are required to increase patient access while maintaining the viability of an R&D-driven biopharmaceutical industry. Facility productivity, cost of goods (CoG), and capital investment all have significant margins for improvement. Such goals can be achieved not only…

April 17, 2017

Biosimilar Markets and Regulation: Which Countries Are Going All In?

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The pipeline of follow-on (biosimilar and biobetter) products in development for the US, EU, and other major markets is very healthy. It includes nearly 800 biosimilars, about three-quarters of which are presumed to be targeted for major markets, and about 500 biobetters in development. Nearly 1,200 follow-on biopharmaceutical products in the development pipeline are intended to compete with more than 100 currently marketed biopharmaceuticals. This is not just an opportunity in the Western world; biosimilars development is expanding globally. But…

April 11, 2017

The Era of Digital Biomanufacturing

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The digital revolution in manufacturing began with an explosion in monitoring, analytics, and new computing capabilities. Combined with such advances as artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and robotics, they are changing our concepts of manufacturing in general — from product development and factory operations to materials supply. This evolution also connects product and process designers and leaders in manufacturing engineering. Digital manufacturing (DM) isn’t a dream or a concept on some advanced developer’s design table; it’s occurring now and will change…

March 20, 2017

The Cell and Gene Therapy Industry: Looking at 2016 and Beyond

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Politically 2016 was surprising and dramatic here in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Although it was not surprising for cell and gene therapies per se, the growth that we have seen in this industry has been pretty dramatic around the world as well. The industry has seen investors of all types maintaining their interest in cell and gene therapy, with a number of new deals made: e.g., Bluebird bio and Medigene signed a strategic R&D collaboration and licensing agreement, and…

March 20, 2017

Critical Aspects of Technology Transfer to CMOs

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Technology transfer in pharmaceutical manufacturing most often is mentioned as occurring between two organizations and involving discrete product lifecycle stages: e.g., a sponsor and a contract manufacturer and from development to manufacturing. According to the International Council on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use: “The goal of technology transfer activities is to transfer product and process knowledge between development and manufacturing, and within or between manufacturing sites to achieve product realization. This knowledge forms the basis for…

March 9, 2017

Growth Projections for the Regenerative Medicine Market

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One of the fastest growing medical markets with great potential, regenerative medicine treats chronic diseases that were once untreatable. Therapy using live cells is increasingly used to replace damaged tissue, deliver gene therapies to target tissues and organs, and stimulate self-healing along with a number of other applications. View the full article below – Login Required Reference 1 Regenerative Medicines Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2015–2022. Allied Market Research: Pune,Maharashtra, India: August 2016; www.alliedmarketresearch.com/regenerative-medicines-market. 2 Chartrain NA, Williams…

February 13, 2017