Episódios
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ScaleReady and Germfree discuss the need to rethink sustainability and move towards a more standardized and simplistic manufacturing model to ensure health equity can be achieved.
This episode of our monthly podcast Voices of Biotech brings you an interesting conversation with Carol Houts, chief strategy officer at Germfree and Josh Ludwig, global director commercial operations at ScaleReady.
Together, they discuss how sustainability measures can increase patient care and access through decentralized manufacturing models, which can reduce the time, space, and cost associated with producing cell and gene therapies (CGTs) and other modalities.
The conversation about sustainability leads into a discussion about the ecosystem in the life sciences space.
While both acknowledged and spoke in-depth about the advantages of educating the industry and shifting towards a more decentralized manufacturing model, Ludwig and Houts did not shy away from discussing some of the challenges the industry faces. These include the shortage of talent in the space, the element of many players still “figuring it out” as sustainability is not an individual issue but a collective one, and the issue of drug shortages.
The pair ended the podcast with some thought-provoking statements regarding the need to rethink what sustainability means and urged how standardization is really the key to achieving better patient care and access.
The latest episode can be found here or through the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform at, Spotify, Apple iTunes, Google podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Life Sciences partnering events company EBD Group discusses the importance of communication, education, and the trials and tribulations of organizing an event with sustainability in mind.
This episode of our monthly podcast Voices of Biotech brings you a slightly different conversation in this series about sustainability with Claire Macht, portfolio director, Europe and Manuela Hildebrand, regional delivery director, both from the EBD Group.
Together, they discuss how sustainability measures are implemented from an operational standpoint at conferences such as reuseable booths, less food and beverage wastage, more plant-based/vegetarian options, and even the much-debated topic of carpet or no carpet in the exhibition hall.
Additionally, Macht and Hildebrand discuss how and why sustainability is also tackled from a wellbeing perspective at EBD events. For example, providing attendees with healthier food and drink options, a massage booth, lounges to relax, fun runs, and more.
While both acknowledged and spoke in-depth about the need to educate and communicate with attendees and staff members on why certain decisions have been made to create a “buy-in” mentality, Macht and Hildebrand did not shy away from some of the challenges the team faces when planning an event with sustainability and the FasterForward initiative at the forefront.
EBD’s next partnering-focused event is ChinaBIO, taking place in Shanghai, China September 10-11th, or virtually on September 16-17th. Two months later, BIO-Europe will take place in Stockholm, Sweden on November 4-6th.
The latest episode can be found here or through the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform at, Spotify, Apple iTunes, Google podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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MilliporeSigma discusses the importance of people, education, and the benefits of embracing discomfort to bolster sustainability efforts.
This episode of our regular podcast Voices of Biotech brings you an in-depth conversation with Jeffrey Whitford, vice president of sustainability and social business innovation at MilliporeSigma, the life sciences division of Merck KGaA.
Whitford speaks about the company’s interim and long-term sustainability initiatives and provides a detailed outline of how the firm intends to meet their goals. Additionally, the conversation develops to discuss how integral people are when it comes to sustainability.
He puts forward the idea that it is not about people meeting you where you are at in terms of sustainability, but more about ensuring that you meet people where they are at, to develop an understanding of why and how you are reaching this aim.
According to Whitford, education (both self and academia) is vital to creating an unbreakable chain for sustainability. He talks about the academic partnerships MilliporeSigma has and the goal of making this global. Furthermore, he closes the conversation by adding how we need to be prepared to sometimes live in a little bit of discomfort and embrace change to really help make a difference.
The latest episode can be found here or through the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform at, Spotify, Apple iTunes, Google podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Samsung Biologics' James Choi discusses the CDMO’s role in teaming up with Big Pharma to tackle sustainability in the biotech space.
This episode of the Voices of Biotech – brought to you by the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform – brings you an interesting conversation with Choi about the commitment to a “greener” supply chain.
In July 2023, CEOs from Roche, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, Merck KGaA, Sanofi, and contract development manufacturing organization Samsung Biologics signed an open letter calling on suppliers to commit to climate and sustainability targets.
The healthcare industry contributes approximately 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, 50% of which comes from supply chains. The letter said called on biopharma collaborators to speedily move towards a “greener, more efficient, and circular” process. Additionally, it urged suppliers to sign-up to a joint minimum climate and sustainability targets, based around fundamental commitments laid out by the same seven firms ahead of COP27 in November 2022.
Choi, executive vice president, chief marketing officer, and head of sales support and global public affairs at Samsung Biologics, speaks about the CDMO’s involvement in teaming up with Big Pharma players to reach specific sustainability goals by 2025 and beyond. He talks about the important role a service provider plays in being more sustainable, Samsung Biologics’ own sustainability measures at the firm, and how the coalition came to fruition.
On top of being part of a coalition to advance sustainability in the sector, Choi also talks in depth about the buildout of its facilities and the measures they have put in place to ensure the next plant is “greener than the one before.”
The latest episode can be found below or through the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform at, Spotify, Apple iTunes, Google podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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The director of strategy and alliance management at Core Biogenesis discusses the advantages, challenges, and how plant-based processes contribute to sustainability in the biotech space.
This episode of the Voices of Biotech – brought to you by the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform – brings you an exciting conversation with Quentin Vicard, strategy and alliance management at Core Biogenesis.
In July 2022, Core Biogenesis bagged $10.5 million in a Series A funding round to build a plant-based bioproduction facility located in Strasbourg, France. The plant is dedicated to manufacturing growth factors and cytokines for the cell therapy space and cellular agricultural industry.
Vicard speaks about the company’s technology platform that can express recombinant proteins from the seeds of a Camelina sativa oilseed plant. He talks in-depth about the benefits of using a plant-based process, the challenges that come with it, and the firm’s future goals.
On top of cost benefits, less space required, and impressive scalability, Vicard tells our listeners how its plant-based process has less of an impact on the environment and why sustainability is at the core of Core Biogenesis. Additionally, the conversation touches on the regulatory challenges companies are faced with when using a method that differs from the norm.
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Joel Eichmann, the co-founder and managing director of Green Elephant Biotech, discusses sustainable single-use products, the importance of data, and how healthy people need a healthy planet
Eichmann speaks about the firm’s plant-based plastic single-use products and how it is contributing to making the world that little bit greener, despite being told a few years ago the company was ahead of its time. Additionally, the life cycle of the product is discussed, and the conversation evolves to talk about the ecosystem needed to recycle effectively.
He goes on to bring up an important point about how drugs in the life sciences space are saving lives, however, to reap the full benefit of commercialized medicine, we need to have a healthy planet for the healthy people to live on.
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The co-CEO’s of the FemTech Association Asia discuss democratizing women’s health and the femtech investment opportunities in Asia.
Davis said their goal is to, “provide a voice for [Asia] and help amplify the industry […] Femtech is known for being delivered for a premium audience and we want to take this wider and make sure we have solutions that are available, accessible, and affordable for all women.”
In addition to increasing accessibility to healthcare for all women, the association is encouraging investment opportunities in FemTech. For instance, 14% of FemTech business are located in Asia, making this an impactful area for the industry and for women’s health. By promoting this industry in this location, the association is helping Asia position itself as a leader in FemTech.
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The three founders of the CGT Circle discuss the importance of decentralized networking for women and why the network was created.
In the latest episode of Voices of Biotech, brought to you by the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform, editor of BioProcess Insider Mille Nelson sits down with the three founding members of the CGT Circle.
They discuss the demand for local community led networking, leading them to launch their platform which aims to create “decentralized networking” for women in the Life Sciences industry.
“Our aim is to facilitating networking and take the fear factor out of it,” says Kate Fynes, one of the CGT Circle founding members and CMC translation consultant at eXmoor Pharma Concepts Ltd.
This allows women at different stages of their careers to share experiences and support each other professionally and personally.
Running for only 5 months, the CGT Circle has gained over 700 members and events have taken place across America, London, and Paris, with the next event occurring in Nottingham, UK 27th July.
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Episode 5 of Voices of Biotech has launched! This month’s episode of Informa Connect’s latest podcast, brought to you by the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform, features Lara Silverman who sheds some light on career paths, mentorship, and taking ownership of your own development.
Hear Lara discuss DE&I in the cell and gene therapy space, emphasising the goal to get to a place where diversity is naturally embedded into company culture without the need for continuous conversation.
She shares her experience and advice on mentoring, highlighting the benefits to be gained from both sides of the relationship, “mentorship is our key to digging ourselves out of this hole of not having women in leadership,” she says. When selecting a mentor, Silverman emphasises the importance to find someone outside of your organisation for an unbiased perspective and with a shared experience or history to you; “the challenges you are facing have been faced before.”
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When it comes to hiring, there is not enough diversity at upper leadership levels says Bristol Myers Squibb’s Executive Director.
In the next episode of Voices of Biotech, brought to you by BioProcess Insider Expression Platform, Vibha Jawa, Executive Director of Bristol Myers Squibb discusses the limited diversity of the hiring pool, building a network of female professionals, and career mentorship.
Jawa shares her career journey and the challenges in transitioning from academia to industry. “There is always a mindset that people from academia are not made for biotech or the pharmaceutical sector. So, it took me a while to get out of that academic mode,” says Jawa.
This leads her to highlight the importance of mentoring and developing a strong network of support at the beginning of your career, “I could’ve benefited initially with a better network which I did not have.”
Jawa moves on to discuss diversity in leadership. Whilst this has improved on a graduate level, “if I'm looking for someone who can do a role where they manage a bigger group, I don't find the diversity. I don't even find it in the job pool,” says Jawa.
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This episode of the Voices of Biotech - brought to you by the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform -brings you an in-depth conversation with Antoinette Gawin, CEO of Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies.
Gawin shares her personal experience of growing up within an immigrant farming community before entering the pharma space and climbing the career ladder. She talks about how people should not be afraid to show vulnerability in the workplace. Additionally, she discusses the importance of making sure all voices are heard, regardless of who the voices come from.
We discuss women in the life sciences space, diversity and inclusion, and how this cannot be seen as a task but must be part of your company culture to truly anchor value, employee wellbeing and successful performance. The conversation also delves into how there a perception that when a woman brings an idea to the space, there is still an aspect of risk associated with this.
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“Women and people of diverse backgrounds remain underrepresented in the upper echelons of the biopharma c-suite,” says Ilona Gutcher, director of BD&L Oncology at Bayer.
Aligning with International Women’s Day (Wednesday 8th March) the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform has released its second episode of Voices of Biotech.
“I wouldn’t be here without the I&D Xcelerate program,” says Gutcher, another graduate of the Bayer program launched by Marianne De backer two years ago to promote diversity through a 6–9 month placement within Business Development & Licensing and Open Innovation (BD&L/OI) department.
She discusses her experience with the initiative and beyond, advocating for mentorship programs. and stressing the importance of having female role-models in C-suite positions to encourage women to reach their full potential.
Gutcher ends by saying Bayer has committed to achieve gender parity on each management level by 2030 and has plans to expand the I&D Xcelerate program to other divisions within the company.
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With the celebration of International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11th February 2023, we are excited to announce Informa’s latest podcast series produced on the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform (BIEP), where we dive into the complex journey of key female leaders shaping the life science industry.
Despite the progress over the last decade, gender parity remains a global issue throughout all levels within the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Within academia, only 33.3% of all researchers are women, dwindling to a further 12% making national science academies. It is important to question how the industry is evolving, what progress has been made, and what steps we need to take next. This podcast will celebrate women and minorities in science and what more can be done to amplify their voices.
In this first episode of Voices of Biotech, we are joined by Deepa Talpade, VP, BD&L and Strategic Alliances of Oncology at Bayer who discusses the success of Bayer’s I&D Xcelerate program, launched by Marianne De backer two years ago, which promotes diversity through a 6–9-month placement within Bayer’s BD&L department.
Deepa also touches upon the socioeconomic impact deterring women to reach their full potential, the necessity to take a risk on women and the need for authenticity in leadership roles: “we should be allowed to colour ourselves in the way that we choose to”.
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This episode of the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform (BIEP) podcast brings you an in-depth conversation with Jason Foster, CEO of Ori Biotech. The company experienced a year of transition in 2022 with the closing of its $100 million Series B funding round and the expansion of its paperless cell and gene therapy (CGT) platform.
Foster speaks about the current process of taking the platform from clinical to commercial through feedback derived from its LightSpeed Early Access Program (LEAP) partners. He also discusses the issues surrounding accessibility, pricing, and supply chain fragility in the advanced therapies space.
The conversation moves on to talk about advanced therapies as both first and second-line treatments, in which Foster speaks about the hurdles created by the EU and US healthcare systems.
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The latest edition of the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform has NIBRT’s Killian O'Driscoll speaking on Ireland’s robust biomanufacturing environment, training programs, and vendor-led technologies.
Ireland has long established itself as a drug manufacturing hub and is home to commercial production sites run by Big Pharma firms including Pfizer, J&J, Eli Lilly, and AstraZeneca, as well as numerous third-party manufacturing organizations and bioprocess vendor firms.
The business environment has been spurred by low corporate tax rates, but also a highly skilled workforce, which has been supported by the government-funded National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT). The Dublin institution has been described as a ‘flight simulator for biomanufacturing,’ and has trained over 4,000 people a year in bioproduction processes since it opened in 2011.
At Biotech Week Boston in September, BioProcess Insider caught up with Killian O'Driscoll, director of Projects at NIBRT, who spoke to us in depth about Ireland’s pharma heritage, NIBRT’s international presence, and its relationship with vendors.
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Bikash Chatterjee and Stephanie Gaulding, CEO and MD at drug development consultancy firm Pharmatech Associates, talk about the different partnering and outsourcing strategies innovators can take, with a specific focus on smaller and mid-sized biotechs, which often don’t have the same level of in-built CMC expertise as Big Pharma. Whether you go with a single end-to-end CDMO or a multi-model approach, one thing is clear: know your product, know your needs and plan early.
This conversation originally took place as a Linkedin Live event ahead of the CPhI Worldwide conference happening in Frankfurt in November.
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This episode of the BioProcess Insider Expression Platform (BIEP) podcast brings you an in-depth conversation with Stuart Curbishley, head of business and project development, advanced therapies at University of Birmingham and Ivan Wall, CEO, Four-Plus and director of the National Training Center for advanced therapies manufacturing.
We delve deep into the challenges concerning training talent in the advanced therapy and wider biopharma space, potential solutions that could filter the staffing bottleneck, and how the respective institutions are responding to these issues.
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Another interview taken from the BioProcess International Theater at BIO, in June 2022.
This time, I sat down with Brian Finrow, the Co-Founder and CEO of Lumen Biosciences - a biotech looking to unlock the full potential of biologic drugs, whose promise has been held back by the lack of scalable technology.
The firm is developing ‘oral antibodies’ using its platform based on spirulina – the protein-rich cyanobacteria touted by many health enthusiasts as a ‘superfood’ – to create tiny factories that churn out therapeutic antibodies.
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