Careers

BioProcess Insider Interview: Andrew Mears, Chief Executive Officer, Lead Candidate

Despite the overall growth of the biopharmaceutical industry, talent shortages remain a problem across organizations from product manufacturing to research and development. According to Mears, shortages have occurred because the industry has failed to keep pace with the changes that people are seeking in their careers. More often than not, Mears said, managers enter the hiring process without a strategy for communicating with prospective candidates. Companies can improve their hiring processes by marketing themselves appropriately and ensuring that they are…

BioProcess Insider Interview: Emmanuel Ligner, Chief Executive Officer, Cytiva

Cytiva created its Biopharma Resilience Index about three years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic to better understand industry needs and trends. According to Ligner, the most recent survey asked about 1,250 executives at biopharmaceutical companies about how they rate the resilience of the industry in five important categories: supply chain, research and development (R&D), manufacturing agility, regulation, and talent. The feedback that Cytiva has received enables it to assess industry needs on a global scale. The data also inform the…

Building a Biotechnology Business While Helping Women Shine

Women make up a significant percentage of the people who have established careers in the biopharmaceutical industry. However, the industry still needs to work toward creating equal representation in C-suite positions and helping women entrepreneurs start their companies. We also need to increase women’s overall representation among leading companies, with women sitting on boards of directors and making important decisions. We need to have more conversations about promoting women into leadership and positions of power. It is hard to believe…

Biopharma 4.0 — the Talent Evolution

Biopharma 4.0 refers to applications of data and digital technologies to biotherapeutic manufacturing. Technological advances now enable the internet and its embedded systems to serve as a nucleus through which biomanufacturers can integrate production lines and processes across organizational boundaries, thereby forming a networked and agile value chain. Solutions under the industry 4.0 umbrella include • platforms for “smart” manufacturing made possible by the internet of things (IoT) • artificial intelligence (AI) • systems for process automation • technologies for…

Learning Management: Evaluation of Retraining Risk at Indian Pharmaceutical Companies

Human medicinal product manufacturers face complexity and uncertainties regarding operational performance. Effective training management plays a major role in support and implementation of a pharmaceutical quality system. The minimum regulatory requirement is to employ adequately trained personnel with sufficient knowledge, skills, and experience. Software-based e-learning training methods are used widely across pharmaceutical companies. Achieving quality compliance depends significantly on several factors, from training preparation to assessments. To comply with the current regulatory requirements, pharmaceutical companies need to implement learning management…

The Talent Enigma in Digital Biomanufacturing

Demand for talent in the biopharmaceutical industry already had been climbing before the COVID-19 pandemic, showing an increase of 26% from 2018 to 2020. By the end of 2021, a further 32% surge was observed in the United States and Europe, against a 10% rise in the supply of expertise. Bolstered at first by the need to manufacture SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and therapeutics and now by the threat of new pandemics, current market drivers include increases in investment, initial public offerings…

Delivering the Digital Skills Needs of the Bioprocessing Sector: Realizing the Vision of Industry 4.0 for Your Organization

As the bioprocessing sector marches toward the future, digitalization stands at the heart of the Industry 4.0 vision of smart, self-organizing factories. Along with critical success factors such as infrastructure investment in cloud-based technologies, digitalization enables companies to turn data into intelligence. The realization of Industry 4.0 promises digitally integrated facilities with fully automated manufacturing, real-time traceability, standardized procedures, and agile processes (1, 2). Here, we present the results of a benchmarking survey that drew participation from leading biopharmaceutical companies.…

The Best Places to Work in Biotech: Perspectives on Job Satisfaction in the Biopharmaceutical Ecosystem

In late spring of 2022, the combined BPI editorial and marketing teams sent out a “Best Places to Work in Biotech” survey to BPI readers. Similar surveys appear every year from a number of other organizations. Our focus was less data driven than many others, instead inviting commentary on factors that are becoming essential to job satisfaction and employee retention. One strong conclusion to draw from our reader responses is that people in biopharmaceutical careers want to play a key…

Reflections on Career Opportunities in the Biopharmaceutical Industry

Mindset is important to working in the biopharmaceutical industry. Three distinguishing behaviors will enable new entrants to build rich and fulfilling careers: keeping an open mind, serving a purpose for the benefit of a greater good, and making risk-based decisions. The range of experiences in our own careers can help to illustrate the broad array of opportunities that you can find in the life sciences when such a mindset is applied. Below, we discuss some of those experiences and lessons…

eBook: Biopharmaceutical Training — Designing Effective Adult-Learning–Based Programs

Biopharmaceutical industry training is imperative not only to ensure patient safety, but also to develop a skilled workforce that can support successful businesses. Current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) skills and behaviors are needed so that products being developed, manufactured, and delivered are compliant and within specifications. Individuals who fulfill roles within development, manufacturing, and delivery processes need some level of education to develop all the necessary skills and behaviors. Adult earners have unique needs and requirements that must be incorporated…