Spotted in Boston: BioProcess International

  • Published:
    Oct 19, 2022
  • Category:
    Company News

At this year’s BioProcess International event in Boston, we heard from industry experts about how novel science across all phases of bioprocessing for biologics and cell and gene therapies is changing. We also hosted a technology workshop, got interviewed about how to invest in your organization’s future (spoiler alert: it involves transitioning to modern tech), and made some new friends!

Read on to learn more about our key learnings from this year’s event.

What Is BioProcess International?

BioProcess International, or BPI for short, is the largest bioprocessing event that helps life science professionals understand the best methods for accelerating the commercialization of biologics and cell and gene therapies.

BPI takes place annually, and features hundreds of leading scientists and experts who discuss ways to improve efficiencies across all phases of biopharmaceutical development and production.

See the BPI conference in action when you check out this quick recap video!

Wednesday: Justin’s TV Interview

Investing in Your Organization’s Future with Modern Tech 

How can pharma companies cut costs and reduce time to market? That’s the multi-million-dollar question.

And Apprentice’s Senior Enablement Executive, Justin Forman, may have the answer.

On September 28th, Justin was interviewed by BWB TV where he outlined the importance of leveraging modern technology to increase organizational efficiencies while saving time and money.

Q&A With Justin:

Here are some of the highlights from Justin’s presentation, Modernization Monopoly: How to Pass Go and Invest in your Organization’s Future.

Q: How can Cell & Gene Therapy focused organizations improve speed and maximize supply in today’s market?

A: There’s a number of ways for organizations to capitalize on areas that have been improved. In particular, they can adopt new and innovative technologies that enable them to manufacture with more speed and predictability throughout their process. Doing so creates a better work experience for their operators and scientists as it streamlines onboarding and collaboration.

Q: Why is now the best time to shift toward the adoption of more modern manufacturing technology?

A: It comes down to two key areas: Firstly, the technology has evolved in a way where it enables organizations, such as cell and gene therapy, that need more flexibility to adapt earlier.

Secondly, the industry as a whole is latching on to this idea of cell and gene therapy. New modalities have come across over the last several years, and even the FDA has seen an uptick in the number of INDs that they’ve taken on in the last few years, and they’re trying to push for organizations to submit more.

Q: What are the current concerns with traditional pharma manufacturing systems?

A: The systems that support manufacturing today. Legacy systems have been around for a long time, and they were designed and implemented by large pharmaceutical companies that were focused at the time on small molecules — a very repeatable and standard process.

Today, unfortunately, that rigidity [associated with legacy systems] is very limiting for organizations. You need to be able to have the flexibility and configurability to match the needs of what an organization might be looking at doing today. This is especially true for cell and gene therapy organizations.

Want to watch the full interview? You can view a recording of his Q&A online.

WATCH JUSTIN’S INTERVIEW

Follow Justin on LinkedIn for more pharma manufacturing thought leadership insights and best practices.

Friday: Dave’s Technology Workshop

On Friday, September 30th we checked an item off our bucket list when we held a riveting 20-minute technology workshop in the BPI Spotlight Theater!

In this workshop, our Senior Solution Engineer, Dave Sarosky, showed attendees how to use Apprentice’s Tempo Manufacturing Cloud to streamline processes and improve collaboration. Read on to learn more!

Tempo Cloud: The Next Generation of Modern, No-Code MES Technology

Apprentice.io provides the next generation of manufacturing technology for life sciences. As pharma moves toward more complex batch manufacturing with biologics and cell & gene therapies, there is a greater need for modern systems that can support the changing supply chain. 

Apprentice’s Tempo Manufacturing Cloud is the only modern manufacturing execution system that digitizes manufacturing methods and allows organizations to scale up through the drug lifecycle and scale out across teams and sites, from preclinical through to commercial manufacturing. 

Tempo is purpose-built for the future of pharmaceutical manufacturing and designed with the scientist in mind, allowing teams to collaborate as they execute procedures across multiple mobile and head-worn devices. Our SaaS-based, no-code manufacturing technology is helping organizations get quality therapeutics to patients faster and with greater flexibility.

Connect with Dave on LinkedIn to keep a pulse on his thought leadership activities.

Behind the Scenes at the Apprentice Booth

While Dave and Justin were busy discussing how to increase manufacturing efficiencies with modern tech, our team was focused on making new connections, chatting with industry leaders, and showing Apprentice solutions in action.

After Hours: Exploring Beantown

Outside of BPI, our team explored one of America's greatest and most historical cities: Beantown, aka Boston! We visited Fenway park, took our taste buds on a seafood tour, tried Boston’s famous baked beans, and took in the city sights.

Fun facts: Boston built America’s first subway in 1897, and is named after a town in England!

Closing Thoughts

If you’re on the fence about attending BPI next year, don’t be! We highly recommend it. From the expert speakers to industry insights, this conference is invaluable for life science professionals.

Here are a few of our key takeaways:

  • Pharma 4.0 is not just a trending term, it’s the future of manufacturing 
  • Legacy systems are losing their legacy, and no longer cut it for most pharma companies (especially cell & gene therapy) 
  • Top tech enables pharma manufacturers to accelerate production and reduce time to market without sacrificing quality

Our Upcoming Events

We had a great time in Boston, but we’ve already got our sights set on our next event! Stay tuned for more of our upcoming conferences and events:

To learn more about where we’re heading next, check out our events page for Apprentice happenings and updates.