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BioProcess Insider Interview: Dr. Ger Brophy, Avantor

Moderator: Dan Stanton, Co-founder and Editor, BioProcess Insider. Featuring: Dr. Ger Brophy, Executive Vice President, Biopharma Production, Avantor. Avantor has expanded its biopharmaceutical capabilities significantly over the past year. In addition to opening facilities in The Netherlands and Massachusetts for manufacturing and distribution of single-use systems, respectively, the company has broken ground on sites in Ireland and Singapore. Avantor also acquired Masterflex, a manufacturer of peristaltic pumps and fluid-handling solutions. Brophy explained that such activity exemplifies Avantor’s efforts to increase…

How Our Partnerships Move Your Life-Changing Biologics to Market: Two Case Studies

by BPI Staff

Muctarr Sesay, chief scientific officer, Goodwin Biotechnology. Goodwin Biotechnology’s mission is to minimize manufacturing risks associated with complex biopharmaceuticals, including antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs), bioconjugated vaccines, and multispecific antibodies. Sesay described his company’s capabilities, which span from preclinical process development through commercial supply. Currently, the Goodwin site in Fort Lauderdale, FL, is equipped for 200-L and 500-L bioreactors in both stainless-steel and single-use formats. The company can perform drug substance and drug product manufacturing as well as fill–finish steps, all according…

BioProcess Insider Interview: Tom VanCott, Catalent

by BPI Contributor

Moderator: Dan Stanton, Co-founder and Editor, BioProcess Insider. Featuring: Tom VanCott, PhD, Global Head of Product Development, Catalent. Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Catalent has expanded significantly over the past decade through strategic acquisitions and investments in cell and gene therapy (CGT) capabilities. VanCott reflected on how his company has supported such growth while manufacturing SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and therapeutics. Catalent was able to accommodate the sudden and extraordinary demand for COVID-19 products because it already had been increasing capacity…

BioProcess Insider Interview: Dave Backer, Oxford Biomedica

by BPI Contributor

Moderator: Dan Stanton, Co-founder and Editor, BioProcess Insider. Featuring: David Backer, Chief Commercial Officer, Oxford Biomedica. Early in 2022, Oxford Biomedica (OXB) purchased a majority stake in Homology Medicines. The companies have taken similar journeys, the primary difference being that they have worked with lentivirus (LV) and adenoassociated virus (AAV) vectors, respectively. Both companies started as drug developers and established manufacturing capacity to support internal products. Because of program attrition, OXB began offering its capabilities as a service. OXB now…

BioProcess Insider Interview: Greg Bleck, Catalent

by BPI Contributor

Moderator: Dan Stanton, Co-founder and Editor, BioProcess Insider. Featuring: Greg Bleck, Vice President of Research and Development, Catalent. In July 2021, Catalent released its GPEx Lightning expression construct for Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell-line development (CLD). Bleck characterized it as a novel combination of the company’s original GPEx retrovector gene-insertion technology, a glutamine synthetase (GS) knockout sequence, and a recombinase gene-insertion system. A key advantage of the platform, Bleck explained, is that it can reduce CLD timelines by three months.…

BioProcess Insider Interview: Brian Finrow, Lumen Biosciences

by BPI Contributor

Moderator: Dan Stanton, Co-founder and Editor, BioProcess Insider. Featuring: Brian Finrow, Co-founder & CEO, Lumen Biosciences. Although Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells remain the biopharmaceutical industry’s preferred expression system for antibody production, companies such as Lumen Biosciences are seeking out alternative hosts. Finrow cautioned that CHO cells sometimes complicate efforts to develop scalable and cost-effective manufacturing processes. For gastrointestinal (GI) indications such as Clostridium difficile infection and Crohn’s disease, spirulina, a biomass composed of cyanobacteria and their cellular by-products, could…

BioProcess Insider Interview: Jon Gunther, Just-Evotec Biologics

by BPI Contributor

Moderator: Dan Stanton, Co-founder and Editor, BioProcess Insider. Featuring: Jon Gunther, Head of Business Development, Just–Evotec Biologics. Evotec’s presence in the biopharmaceutical industry grew significantly with its May 2019 acquisition of Just Biotherapeutics. The combined company now provides integrated research and development (R&D) services and good manufacturing practice (GMP)-grade production processes for antibody (Ab) therapeutics. Just–Evotec already has established a manufacturing facility in Redmond, WA, and has initiated construction of a sister site in Toulouse, France, which should come online…

BioProcess Insider Interview: Emmanuel Ligner, Cytiva

by BPI Contributor

Moderator: Dan Stanton, Co-founder and Editor, BioProcess Insider. Featuring: Emmanuel Ligner, Chief Executive Officer, Cytiva. In 2021, Cytiva collaborated with London’s Financial Times survey group to establish an annual biopharmaceutical industry resilience index. Ligner explained that his company spearheaded the project to quantify life-science leaders’ confidence in the industry and to identify areas for improvement. The inaugural survey collected impressions from more than 1,000 executives about supply-chain resilience, talent recruitment, research and development activity, manufacturing agility, and regulation. The industry…

BioProcess Insider Interview: Claudia Melara, Gamma Biosciences

by BPI Contributor

Moderator: Dan Stanton, Co-founder and Editor, BioProcess Insider. Featuring: Claudia Melara, Vice President of Key Accounts, Gamma Biosciences. Since its launch in 2020, Gamma Biosciences has acquired or purchased controlling stakes in several solutions providers, the capabilities of which now span the entire biomanufacturing spectrum. Gamma Bio helps drug developers move their products from preclinical research through good manufacturing practice (GMP) production. To spur on commercialization of advanced therapies, Gamma Bio now has established a key accounts program. Drug developers…

BioProcess Insider Interview: James Park, Samsung Biologics

by BPI Contributor

Moderator: Dan Stanton, Co-founder and Editor, BioProcess Insider. Featuring: James Park, Executive Vice President, Samsung Biologics. Samsung Biologics has established itself among the world’s largest CDMOs. It currently provides 364,000 L of bioreactor capacity, primarily in stainless-steel format, across three sites in Songdo, South Korea. Park reported that construction continues on a fourth facility. In October 2022, the plant will bring six 10,000-L bioreactors online for GMP production of recombinant proteins. A second construction phase is scheduled to add 12…