Guest Columns

  1. Biopharma Partnerships: The Key To Filling The Life Sciences Innovation Gap 5/18/2022

    The life sciences industry is facing a significant slowdown due to patent expirations. Many organizations have not established a robust enough pipeline to overcome the revenue to be lost. To bridge this innovation gap, pharma CEOs will need to expand their use of alliances, in tandem with bolt-on M&A, as a pipeline booster strategy.

  2. New ICH Q14 Guidance Applies QbD To Analytical Procedures 5/13/2022

    ICH's new draft guidance (Q14) for Analytical Procedure Development describes an enhanced approach for method development, validation, and life cycle management employing elements of quality by design (QbD) and risk management tools. This article also explains the differences between this enhanced approach and the traditional approach.

  3. Key Considerations In Early-Stage Biopharma Financing 5/11/2022

    After over two years of soaring IPO valuations and high stock prices, biotech had a reckoning in the back half of 2021.

  4. Make This Your New EU IDMP Implementation Strategy 5/9/2022

    Just when the life sciences industry was as sure as it could be that EU Iteration 1 of ISO Identification of Medicinal Products (IDMP) implementation for centralized procedures in Europe was ready to go, the EMA announced a change of plan. Until further notice, the Digital Application Dataset Integration (DADI) user interface will be used to enable structured data submissions.

  5. Gene Therapy Competitive Dynamics: Winner Takes All? 5/6/2022

    A one-time gene therapy treatment with the potential to cure patients could create a “winner takes all” dynamic, whereby second and later entrants for the same indication would have significantly smaller patient populations. The extent to this dynamic will occur will depend on how similar gene therapy treatments are considered by payers, KOLs, and physicians to be comparable.

  6. How Will Advanced Computing Technologies Catapult Medtech Into The Future? 5/4/2022

    There is an almost unlimited profit potential for medtech manufacturers to use advanced computing technologies such as AI, faster and smaller computing hardware, computing-driven robotics, AR/VR, and IoT to build devices that disrupt markets and improve people’s lives. This article delves into using data analytics (including AI), making more effective implantable devices, and collecting better patient data.

  7. Key Considerations For Decarbonizing Your Biotech Facility 5/4/2022

    The manufacturing processes for biopharmaceuticals do not directly utilize fossil fuels, but fossil fuels are used in the generation of raw materials, consumables, and packaging and in supplying energy to building systems and indirectly to manufacturing equipment. This article looks at the key considerations you should make when considering decarbonizing your facility and uses a case study with quantification of estimated costs.

  8. Don’t Neglect This Drug Development Milestone: The Pre-IND Meeting 5/3/2022

    The pre-IND meeting takes place when a sponsor presents their planned Phase 1 study design, including their proposed product development plan and regulatory strategy, to the FDA. Think of this as a necessary milestone for a quicker development timeline. This article shares best practices for preparing for the meeting as well as for the meeting itself.

  9. How To Evaluate & Manage Safety Risks In Biopharma 5/2/2022

    Safety risks can be described and modelled as cause-and-effect relationships using system risk structures. This article structures risks beginning with a defined danger or threat so they can be effectively understood and then managed. Examples include wearing protective gloves (as a simple risk) and handling antibody-drug conjugates (as a complex risk).

  10. Emerging Trends In Cell & Gene Therapies For Immuno-Oncology 4/29/2022

    Survival rates have increased for many cancers over the past two decades, but there remains an unmet need for more effective therapies. This article examines the current state of clinical development, investment, and partnerships for novel immuno-oncology cell and gene therapies.