November–December 2019: From the Editor

The BWB exhibit hall; image credit: Scott Chernis and Ross Stacey

Over a decade ago, the BioProcess International Conference and Exhibition was created by combining formerly separate IBC conferences on upstream, downstream, analytical, and manufacturing topics for the biopharmaceutical industry. They became tracks in the larger program that reflect the coverage of the magazine after which the event was named. Over time, US West, Asian, and European variations on the theme were added to our yearly calendar. And in the past few years, Biotech Week Boston has evolved by similarly bringing together related meetings and events into a week-long fall festival of biotechnology. This year, BPI US East was colocated with a Cell and Gene Therapy Bioprocessing and Commercialization conference, artificial intelligence and digital health meetings, Xcelerate programs and the Xconomy awards, the Biopharm America partnering event, a Microbiome Therapeutics conference, a rare-disease film festival, the fifth annual Compliance Congress for Specialty Products, and an inaugural “Evening of Diversity and Inclusion.” And the BPI exhibit hall has expanded to support all their diverse but related audiences.

If you haven’t seen it yet, please download our event report at https://bioprocessintl.com/ebooks. It highlights themes and ideas that arose out of the BPI US East program this year, with contributions from all the editors who attended: BP Insider’s Dan Stanton, BPI editor in chief Anne Montgomery, managing editor Maribel Rios, and associate editor Brian Gazaille. Although I couldn’t be there this year, myself, I almost feel like I was after assembling and preparing their contributions for the eBook. The September gathering of bioprocess and product development experts provided its usual yearly update of technological advancements, trending analyses, and regulatory concerns for the biopharmaceutical industry. Many of our old friends were present to provide perspective — and a lot of “young blood” was there to offer modern viewpoints as well.

Topics that came up for discussion included process optimization and efficiencies, evolving single-use technologies and automation, bioprocess monitoring and control, analytical method refinements and data management, process intensification and continuous manufacturing, cell and gene therapies, and industry 4.0. You’ll see most of those buzzwords in BPI’s publishing schedule for 2020 — along with examinations of partnering, emerging therapeutic modalities, facility trends and speed of development, and all the usual upstream, downstream, and product-development themes you’ve come to expect from us.

Meanwhile, next year’s BWB already is in its planning stages. On 21–24 September 2020, we’ll return for another festival of biotechnology at this year’s new venue in the fast-growing seaport district of south Boston. Of course we hope to see you participating in the topical tracks of BPI US East — but maybe you’ll find time also to catch a short film or check out the Xcelerate startup pitch competitors, peruse some posters and build new partnerships in our exhibit hall, and meet some unlikely friends at an event party. As winter sets in here in Oregon, I’m already looking forward to all that and the beauty of autumn in New England.