Evaluating Biopharma

Are cell therapies the key to bridging the gap between discovery research and clinical trials? In the inaugural episode of the Bioprocessing Unfiltered podcast, Bo Wiinberg, chief business development officer at Novo Nordisk Foundation Cellerator, sat with Ran Zheng, CEO of Landmark Bio and shared his expert insight on the promise cell therapies hold for diseases with only treatments but no cures. Their conversation covers the challenges of navigating cell therapy programs through pre-clinical and clinical development journeys, how Cellerator is creating innovative spaces in CMC and manufacturing to fulfill critical needs in the translational space, and what a sustainable global cell therapy manufacturing landscape looks in 5-10 years. 

Links from this episode:  
Bioprocessing Summit
Landmark Bio
Novo Nordisk Foundation Cellerator 

Bioprocessing Unfiltered: Covering both upstream and downstream processing, analytics, AI and digitization, cell and gene therapy and more, Bioprocessing Unfiltered is your insider’s pass to the researchers tackling—and solving—the day-to-day challenges in the bioprocessing industry.

Evaluating Biopharma boiler: Evaluating Biopharma taps into the insight and experience of biopharmaceutical leaders so today’s decision makers can leverage their knowledge, learn from their successes, and avoid repeating similar mistakes. This series offers a new guest and moderator with each episode and aims to equip executives and science leaders with the necessary information to make better business and process decisions. The Evaluating Biopharma podcast is a reproduction of content originally presented at recent Evaluating Biopharma digital and educational networking events. 

In this episode of Evaluating Biopharma, host Ben Locwin and Scott Endicott, executive leader of Healthcare Solutions Integration, talk about data governance and data provenance—why they matter and how the industry can achieve them. With 30 years of experience, Endicott has a deep understanding of training AI and ML models, particularly when patient data is included, and offers advice on how to navigate the challenges of data governance and provenance in the near-term future. 

Links from this episode:  
Evaluating Biopharma 
Black Diamond Networks 

Evaluating Biopharma boiler: Evaluating Biopharma taps into the insight and experience of biopharmaceutical leaders so today’s decision makers can leverage their knowledge, learn from their successes, and avoid repeating similar mistakes. This series offers a new guest and moderator with each episode and aims to equip executives and science leaders with the necessary information to make better business and process decisions. The Evaluating Biopharma podcast is a reproduction of content originally presented at recent Evaluating Biopharma digital and educational networking events. 

In this month’s episode of Evaluating Biopharma, host Ben Locwin and Chris Major, founder and partner of BioProcess360 Partners, discuss the best ways to start a company to address technology gaps, why it is beneficial to collaborate with competitors (instead of going against each other), and the challenges encountered when planning to de-risk portfolios in advance. Major also talks about how he approaches funding, the best practices and lessons he learned about time-to-exit strategies, and how his organization is paying it forward to the industry.

Links from this episode:  
Evaluating Biopharma 
Black Diamond Networks 
BioProcess360 

Evaluating Biopharma boiler: Evaluating Biopharma taps into the insight and experience of biopharmaceutical leaders so today’s decision makers can leverage their knowledge, learn from their successes, and avoid repeating similar mistakes. This series offers a new guest and moderator with each episode and aims to equip executives and science leaders with the necessary information to make better business and process decisions. The Evaluating Biopharma podcast is a reproduction of content originally presented at recent Evaluating Biopharma digital and educational networking events. 

In this month’s episode of Evaluating Biopharma, host Ben Locwin and Tony Arulanandam, SVP and head of R&D at Cytovia Therapeutics, discuss how AI is impacting the antibody R&D field, how companies are using AI to generate better sequences and improve efficacy, and methods on approaching regulators and tackling regulatory challenges. Arulanandam also talks about how he got started in biotech, getting therapies to underserved patient populations, and his thoughts on the promise of antibodies to treat cancer, autoimmune, and metabolic diseases. 

Evaluating Biopharma boiler: Evaluating Biopharma taps into the insight and experience of biopharmaceutical leaders so today’s decision makers can leverage their knowledge, learn from their successes, and avoid repeating similar mistakes. This series offers a new guest and moderator with each episode and aims to equip executives and science leaders with the necessary information to make better business and process decisions. The Evaluating Biopharma podcast is a reproduction of content originally presented at recent Evaluating Biopharma digital and educational networking events. 

In this month’s special episode of Evaluating Biopharma, host Ben Locwin interviews Mara Strandlund, chief people officer at National Resilience, and Niamh Alix, chief human resources officer at Prime Medicine, about the upcoming Talent in Biopharma Leadership workshop at the 2024 Bioprocessing Summit. Their conversation covers a wide variety of topics about talent management, including prioritizing talent retention, building agility into talent acquisition strategies, the importance of brand and culture, and more. They also share tips on what goes into creating a team of exceptional talent, as well as a sneak peek into the key themes of their opening keynote. 

Evaluating Biopharma boiler: Evaluating Biopharma taps into the insight and experience of biopharmaceutical leaders so today’s decision makers can leverage their knowledge, learn from their successes, and avoid repeating similar mistakes. This series offers a new guest and moderator with each episode and aims to equip executives and science leaders with the necessary information to make better business and process decisions. The Evaluating Biopharma podcast is a reproduction of content originally presented at recent Evaluating Biopharma digital and educational networking events. 

In this month’s episode of Evaluating Biopharma, host Ben Locwin and Joaquim Vives, head of production of advanced therapies at Banc de Sang i Teixits, discuss cell and gene therapies and what sets them apart from other therapeutics in terms of their processes. Vives also talks about the top characteristics of good starting materials and particular modes of handling logistics. He also delves into correlating a particular donor for a certain patient and shares where he sees the future of cell and gene therapy going. 

Evaluating Biopharma boiler: Evaluating Biopharma taps into the insight and experience of biopharmaceutical leaders so today’s decision makers can leverage their knowledge, learn from their successes, and avoid repeating similar mistakes. This series offers a new guest and moderator with each episode and aims to equip executives and science leaders with the necessary information to make better business and process decisions. The Evaluating Biopharma podcast is a reproduction of content originally presented at recent Evaluating Biopharma digital and educational networking events. 

In this episode of Evaluating Biopharma, host Ben Locwin speaks with Dr. Stefan Schmidt, CEO of evitria AG, about bispecific antibodies. Dr. Schmidt goes into detail about current trends (from a CRO’s perspective) regarding the discovery and development phases of bispecific antibodies, why they are being made, and potential manufacturing issues. He also discusses the future of bispecific antibodies and concerns over intellectual property immunity influencing consistency and production. 

Evaluating Biopharma boiler: Evaluating Biopharma taps into the insight and experience of biopharmaceutical leaders so today’s decision makers can leverage their knowledge, learn from their successes, and avoid repeating similar mistakes. This series offers a new guest and moderator with each episode and aims to equip executives and science leaders with the necessary information to make better business and process decisions. The Evaluating Biopharma podcast is a reproduction of content originally presented at recent Evaluating Biopharma digital and educational networking events. 

In this episode of Evaluating Biopharma, host Ben Locwin and Jamie Martin, PMP, senior consultant at Black Diamond Networks, discuss the tips and tricks of successful program management. Martin shares his mental checklist of must-haves to ensure a successful start, techniques on what to do when things fall off-track, and the keys to continuous success as the program is running. He also provides advice for listeners who may have newer programs or are new to program management, as well as the “best-in-class" tidbits they can immediately use.

Links from this episode:  
Evaluating Biopharma 
Black Diamond Networks 

Evaluating Biopharma boiler: Evaluating Biopharma taps into the insight and experience of biopharmaceutical leaders so today’s decision makers can leverage their knowledge, learn from their successes, and avoid repeating similar mistakes. This series offers a new guest and moderator with each episode and aims to equip executives and science leaders with the necessary information to make better business and process decisions. The Evaluating Biopharma podcast is a reproduction of content originally presented at recent Evaluating Biopharma digital and educational networking events. 

In this episode of Evaluating Biopharma, host Ben Locwin speaks with Brian Tham, principal consultant at Peregrine Bio, LLC, on how various projects are run in the pharmaceutical industry, how to improve the outcome and processes of projects, and how to continue improving processes and operational excellence. They also delve into the history of how the car manufacturing industry influenced the quality management models and standards of the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Finally, Tham shares his thoughts on the key differences between biotech and pharmaceuticals and other manufacturing industries, what this means for how development programs are managed, and what the future holds for process improvement.  

Links from this episode:  
Evaluating Biopharma 
Black Diamond Networks 
Peregrine Bio 

Evaluating Biopharma boiler: Evaluating Biopharma taps into the insight and experience of biopharmaceutical leaders so today’s decision makers can leverage their knowledge, learn from their successes, and avoid repeating similar mistakes. This series offers a new guest and moderator with each episode and aims to equip executives and science leaders with the necessary information to make better business and process decisions. The Evaluating Biopharma podcast is a reproduction of content originally presented at recent Evaluating Biopharma digital and educational networking events. 

In this month’s episode of Evaluating Biopharma, host Ben Locwin speaks with Nesredin Mussa, PhD, president of Dynamica Biologics, about navigating the challenges of securing successful CDMO-sponsor relationships for a rare disease manufacturing and testing paradigm, the key contributing factors that may pose within the partnership between the sponsor and CDMO, and how small companies can manage with the enhanced regulatory demands due to the nascent nature of these particular therapeutic platforms. Mussa also provides advice on how to reframe one’s thinking when facing challenges, as well as techniques on keeping grounded when the going gets tough. 

LINKEDIN URLS:
Ben Locwin 
Black Diamond Networks
Cambridge Healthtech Institute
Evaluating Biopharma
Nesredin Mussa, PhD 

Evaluating Biopharma boiler: Evaluating Biopharma taps into the insight and experience of biopharmaceutical leaders so today’s decision makers can leverage their knowledge, learn from their successes, and avoid repeating similar mistakes. This series offers a new guest and moderator with each episode and aims to equip executives and science leaders with the necessary information to make better business and process decisions. The Evaluating Biopharma podcast is a reproduction of content originally presented at recent Evaluating Biopharma digital and educational networking events.