Information Technology

Digital Transformation in Biopharmaceutical Operations

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With digital innovations revolutionizing consumer-facing products such as medical devices, questions are arising about whether the biopharmaceutical and broader pharmaceutical industries are embracing digital transformation to drive process improvements and meet changing product demands. Below, Fausto Artico (global head and product director of innovation and data science at GSK) shares his insights about digitalization among pharmaceutical companies that are developing protein-based biologics, vaccines, and advanced therapies. Artico has driven several of GSK’s digitalization initiatives, including work with artificial intelligence (AI)…

Overcoming the Digital Divide: Leveraging Intelligent Automation and Informatics Expertise

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Shifting to a digital regulatory environment is forcing pharmaceutical companies to confront knowledge gaps across key research and development (R&D) functions. As health authorities streamline information exchange through data standardization, the separation between regulatory operations and other functions within the pharmaceutical industry begins to blur. By advancing implementation of ISO identification of medicinal product (IDMP) standards, companies are improving interoperability and information sharing among key clinical, pharmacovigilance, quality, manufacturing, and supply-chain–logistics teams. However, a company’s important regulatory and strategic planning…

April 20, 2023

Biopharma 4.0 — the Talent Evolution

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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…

April 20, 2023

Strengthening Data Management and Integrity for CGT Applications

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The specialized nature of cell and gene therapies (CGTs) requires that they be delivered to single patients or in low batch numbers. Manufacturing CGTs at scale is critical to industry success, but doing so at an economically viable cost is a key obstacle. Today’s therapies cost between US$400,000 and $3.5 million per patient, largely because of the need for highly skilled workers to deliver those innovative drugs. The CGT industry has innovated across all areas of production, from collection of…

April 20, 2023

Predictive Algorithm Modeling for Early Assessments in Downstream Processing: Using Direct Transition and Moment Analysis To Assess Chromatography Column Integrity at Production Scale

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Failure to detect breaches in chromatography column performance can be disastrous during large-scale commercial manufacturing. Our company uses algorithm modeling for near–real-time monitoring of column packing quality and sensitive detection of column-integrity breaches. The approach enables us to mitigate risks early on, save cost and time, and thereby deliver consistent product quality and purity during manufacturing. Here we discuss three case studies in which predictive algorithm modeling using moment analysis and direct transition analysis (DTA) helped us monitor column integrity…

March 21, 2023

The Talent Enigma in Digital Biomanufacturing

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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…

February 9, 2023

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

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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.…

February 9, 2023

Real-Time, Data-Driven, and Predictive Modeling: Accelerating Digital Transformation in Drug Substance Commercial Manufacturing

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Biopharmaceutical drug-substance (DS) manufacturing consists of several unit operations. Upstream production includes multiple steps in growing bacterial or mammalian cells in culture. Upstream activities are followed by a series of downstream processing units including chromatography and filtration steps for removing impurities and purifying a therapeutic molecule (1). All these operations are inherently complex because of the natural variability associated with growing living cells and the intricacy of purification techniques used for collecting biological products. The US Food and Drug Administration…

February 9, 2023

Statistical Method for Establishing Control Limits for Nonnormal Data Distribution: Focus on Continued Process Verification Monitoring

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According to the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) process validation guidance, critical quality attributes (CQAs) and critical process parameters (CPPs) are used to assess the statistical stability of a bioprocess and its ability to meet acceptable criteria as a part of a continued process verification (CPV) program using control charts (1). For those control charts, control limits are used to assess the statistical stability of process parameters and attributes. When data are normally distributed, control limits are established straightforwardly…

October 20, 2022

Appropriate Estimation of Long-Term Variability: Using Biopharmaceutical Release and Stability Data

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Numeric results from quality attributes testing of drug product and drug substance lots can be used for different statistical analyses. One study is the calculation of statistical tolerance intervals from lot-release data to assist in the determination of specification acceptance criteria (1). Data from manufactured batches placed on stability at the recommended storage condition (RSC) also can provide useful information to estimate long-term variation. Below, I address potential concerns associated with pooling disparate data sources and illustrate a technique to…

September 28, 2022