A two-day event at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) will explore new technologies, processes and business practices in the biomanufacturing industry.
The Advanced Industrial Biomanufacturing symposium brings together industry and academic leaders, including executives from AbbVie, Amgen, GE Healthcare and Shire.
Hosted at WPI’s Biomanufacturing Education & Training Center (BETC), the event is set for April 4-5, 2016. Featured topics will include continuous biomanufacturing; alternatives for filtration and chromatography; new expression systems and cell culture platforms; the growing importance of supply chain management; and advanced IT systems to reduce risk in biomanufacturing.
“Globalization, biosimilars and disruptive technologies are reshaping the industry,” said Kamal Rashid, PhD, director of the BETC and research professor at WPI. “Our goal for this new symposium is to establish a forum for people to share timely ideas and discuss the implementation of new processes, technologies and best practices that are impacting biomanufacturing today.”
Participants will have access to all the content, and not have to choose between concurrent sessions. Planned keynote and plenary presentations are:
- “The Shrinking Footprint: Next Generation Technologies in Biomanufacturing,” presented by Sam Guhan, vice president of operations at Amgen
- “Biomanufacturing Innovations for the 21st Century,” presented by Joanne Beck, senior vice president and head of Pharmaceutical Development at Shire
- “The Era of Bioprocess Innovation: Transformations in Cost, Quality, and Speed,” presented by Parrish Galliher, founder and chief technology officer of Xcellerex, now part of GE Healthcare Life Sciences
- “Sustaining a Consistent Quality Profile Across Multiple Scales and Manufacturing Sites,” presented by Ralph Lambalot, vice president of biologics development and manufacturing launch at AbbVie
The symposium will also feature session talks by subject matter experts from Biogen, Roche Custom Biotech, GE Healthcare, Cimetrics, Pall Life Sciences, FloDesign Sonics, MilliporeSigma, Hart Design Group, PBS Biotech, MassBioEd Foundation, and faculty from WPI and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Stephen P. Flavin, vice president and dean of academic and corporate engagement at WPI, said he hoped the new symposium would help scientific and operational leaders in the industry evaluate and accelerate the adoption of new technologies and best practices.
