Manufacturing Contract Services

Build, Buy . . . or “Rent” Capacity? A New GMP Biomanufacturing Business Model

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When it’s time to move from preclinical to clinical-phase product testing, many biopharmaceutical companies face a difficult decision: whether to build or buy a biomanufacturing facility for in-house production or outsource the work to a contract manufacturing organization (CMO). Accinov is a new company that straddles the line between those concepts. Its new biomanufacturing center supports client companies toward clinical development in an innovative way. We propose a groundbreaking model for running good manufacturing practice (GMP) biomanufacturing. Our company’s approach…

December 11, 2014

Bioprocessing Challenges of Antibody–Drug Conjugates

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Development of highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs) is clearly a pharmaceutical industry trend. Highly potent drug products involve active agents and APIs that are so potent therapeutically (or simply just outright toxic) even in small dose that special precautions are required during their manufacture — particularly when handling the active agents. Such requirements include maximal containment and isolation of the process stream. Worker exposure and environmental release clearly pose problems. The necessity and intensity of containment efforts with HPAPIs…

October 15, 2014

Using a CMO for Your ADC: Access Analytical and Manufacturing Platforms, Specialized Facilities, and Expertise

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[Audio Recording] Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are an exciting new area of therapeutics. They bring the “magic bullet” that was promised by Paul Ehrlich over a hundred years ago to reality by targeting cancer cells to deliver chemotherapies without poisoning a patient’s whole body. ADCs offer a promising form of therapy by providing higher safety margins than traditional chemotherapeutics alone, and they make selectivity possible. We should be able to personalize a therapy to the specific cancer expressed in a given…

October 15, 2014

BPI Theater at the 2014 BIO Convention

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When we launched the BioProcess Theater series at the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s International Convention in 2007, we hoped that our special programming would fill a need within that event’s exhibit hall. We wanted to bring into the hall the type of technical presentations that are not generally part of the main event’s more executive-level, business-focused programming.It has therefore been especially gratifying to see our attendance growing every year — such that standing-room-only is becoming more the rule than the exception.…

September 11, 2014

Managing Contract Relationships with Quality Agreements: Keeping in Mind the New FDA Guidance

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Using contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) to augment your supply chain is not a new phenomenon in the pharmaceutical industry. One of my first projects in industry involved developing a process for a recombinant protein while manufacturing materials for clinical trials. My team recognized that the company did not have the money to build a plant for manufacturing an unproven product, and it was not bullish to the risk of investing, so we turned to a contract manufacturer in Austria. That…

June 1, 2014

Manufacturers Open Their Wallets for Outsourcing: Accessing Technical Expertise and Cutting Costs

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Budgets for outsourcing activities have rebounded in recent years as outsourcing has gradually become a more common and core strategic decision made by bioprocessing companies. Some of the increase in outsourcing activity over the past few years has no doubt been spurred by cost-cutting behavior. But increasing evidence indicates that contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) are providing specific technical skills that clients may have shed during leaner recession years. In our latest annual industry report (1), we take a close look…

June 1, 2014

Managing Collaboration Across the Extended Organization

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In an increasingly competitive life-science landscape that includes numerous mergers, acquisitions, and changing business models, the demand for collaboration is increasing at such a pace that it exceeds information technology (IT) capabilities. The need to manage and control this collaboration across the supply chain has become mandatory. That is particularly true for larger organizations with hundreds or thousands of partners that are finding new ways to connect, interact, and conduct business. Individual businesses are forming contractual affiliations that extend beyond…

June 1, 2014

Biosimilars Awaken CROs

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Biosimilars are revolutionizing the bioprocessing industry. Over the years, company CEOs have pushed different models, expanding and closing down huge amounts of internal manufacturing, research and development, and quality control facilities. Sometimes services were pushed to Asia, only to get brought back a few years afterward when a new CEO was appointed. Mergers and acquisitions further complicated those ideas. Consequently, many biopharmaceutical companies now have “gaps” in their drug development service provisions. Filling those gaps will fall on contract research…

June 1, 2014

The Rise of Biopharmaceutical Outsourcing to Indian CDMOs

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India is becoming an increasingly attractive destination for outsourcing biotechnology services by global biopharmaceutical companies. As “Big Pharma” continues on its path of finding ways to lower costs for development and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, Indian contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) are being viewed as capable and beneficial service providers that possess the necessary technical expertise and regulatory-compliant facilities. According to its 11th annual report on biopharmaceutical manufacturing capacity and production, BioPlan Associates ranked India fourth in the world as…

June 1, 2014

Rapid Development and Scale-Up Through Strategic Partnership: Case Study of an Integrated Approach to Cell-Line and Process Development for Therapeutic Antibodies

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Over the past decade, monoclonal antibodies have become mainstream therapeutics for treating a broad range of conditions from autoimmune disorders to cancer. Part of this evolution is increasing time and cost pressure on biopharmaceutical companies to bring new drugs to market 1, 2. Additionally, companies now routinely engineer and screen molecules for developability and manufacturability during discovery before selecting a final candidate molecule. The biosimilar development paradigm also demands significantly more bioanalytical analysis during initial cell-line and process development. Thus,…

June 1, 2014