Molecule to Market: Inside the outsourcing space

Why everything starts with great culture

In this special repurposed episode of Molecule to Market, we go back inside the global drug development space with previous guests Magnus Gustafsson, Board Member at Genovis, Jeff Dill, CEO at Vynamic. , and Peter Soelkner, Managing Director at Vetter to hear their thoughts on building a great organisational culture. 

Your host, Raman Sehgal, revisits discussions from past episodes, with amazing global guests who share their insights about building culture to give our listeners loads of takeaway points, from episodes including:

• Finland’s Viral Vector Manufacturer of Happinesses
  
  Hear from Magnus Gustafsson – who Raman describes as a delightful gentleman that remains passionate about his purpose. His curiosity has enabled him to take real pleasure from working across complex projects. Magnus cites investment into company culture as crucial to developing a great company and building a solid NPS score, commenting: ‘you need some of your own skin in the game’.

• Creating a healthy culture
  
  It’s no secret Jeff Dill is a favourite guest of Raman’s. During the pandemic they enjoyed a great conversation about culture and team work. Jeff firmly believes in prioritizing people and talks in detail about Vynamic’s ‘vitals’ – a document that incapsulates the company’s purpose and a series of values. The vitals provide consistency and a foundation to scale and build. He talks about doubling down on what works well to enable people to bring their whole selves to work everyday. What a great approach!

• From Pharmacy to $1B family-owned CDMO
  
  Finally, we hear from Peter Soelkner who contributed to one of our most successful podcast shows. We listen back to hear about Vetter’s phenomenal success in the US and Germany, and Peter’s fascinating thoughts on culture. From Vetter’s humble beginnings to earning a fantastic reputation in the space Peter talks candidly about the attributes and the people component that make the company so successful. Peter believes you should never look at how far you fell but instead at how high you will jump back up! 

Raman enjoyed the original conversations and took pleasure in listening back to bring you this special culture themed episode. It’s clear our guests all agree that culture is key to developing and scaling a great organization.

We’d love to know what you thought of this special repurposed episode and if you’d like us to develop more of them? Please share your thoughts with us and of course subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!

Molecule to Market is sponsored and funded by ramarketing. An international content, design and digital agency that helps companies in life sciences get noticed.

The orphan drug entrepreneur

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Evelyn Kelly, Chief Executive Officer at Orphan Drug Consulting. Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Evelyn, covering:

• A deep dive into the world of orphan drugs, rare diseases and personalised medicines including the background, evolution and fast growth of the area.
• The revolution in drug development that we are living right now and what this means for CROs, CDMOs and vendors in the space.
• The scary phase of being a start up along with the importance of having purpose as your motivation and being prepared to step-up.
• The non-covid impact of covid of the health of the population and the set-back it caused for small biotechs.
• Pearls of wisdom for ambitious young female leaders navigating their careers in the pharma and biopharma space.

Evelyn has over 15 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry in both distribution and orphan drug companies, working across supply chain, quality assurance and management roles. Evelyn brings years of experience in manufacturing and distributing orphan and speciality drugs to over 50 countries globally.She specializes in the management of supply via virtual, outsourced models and has been named as both a QP and RP on multiple licenses. She has held various positions in Shire, NPS Pharma and PTC Therapeutics and has designed and ran successful supply chains for different products.Evelyn founded Orphan Drug Consulting in 2017, with the vision of supporting companies across the drug development cycle. She holds a Master of Pharmacy from Robert Gordon University and a Master of Business from the Irish Management Institute. She also acts as Adjunct Associate Professor for the School of Pharmacy, Trinity College, Dublin. In 2022, she was named as a finalist in EY Entrepreneur of the Year.

Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!

Molecule to Market is sponsored and funded by ramarketing. An international content, design and digital agency that helps companies in life sciences, get noticed.

The wonder of Wurster technology

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Chuck Frey, VP Scientific Affairs at Coating Place. Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Chuck, covering:

• The backstory to Wurster coating technology and how it changed the world of formulation development.
• Being the go-to guys for the most challenging processing projects... when no one else in the market can.
• The advantages and disadvantages of going under the radar.
• Ups, downs, sacrifices and successes of family life while working in the industry.

Charles (Chuck) Frey is the Vice President of Scientific Affairs at Coating Place, Inc., a CDMO focused in Wurster (bottom spray) fluid bed coating and associated services.Chuck moved on to Coating Place, Inc. in 1999 to develop expertise on the Wurster fluid bed coating process. During his time at Coating Place, Chuck has focused primarily on application of the Wurster process and related technologies to meet the feasibility, formulation development, scale up, validation, and commercial processing needs of clients. Primary interests have included both formulation chemistry and optimization of process dynamics. The company continues to manufacture proprietary Wurster coating equipment for its operations and Chuck has helped maintain and expand the company’s offer with new fluidization plate designs, new nozzles, enhanced scaling knowledge, and other technical advancements. Having spent over 30 years in the sector, Chuck has also lectured on the Wurster process and formulations, and contributed several book chapters on the fluid bed coating processes and formulations.

Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!

Molecule to Market is sponsored and funded by ramarketing. An international content, design and digital agency that helps companies in life sciences, get noticed.

Biotech trends you need to know

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Allan Shaw, Consulting CFO, Special Advisor & Board Member of several biotech companies. Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Allan, covering:

• The sensitive cash position of biotech's as a ‘hangover’ after a decade of partying as the market was high.
• The potential domino effect and collateral impact of the biotech capital slowdown on the supply chain ecosystem.
• Core commonalities between biotech's of all shapes and sizes, and what challenges they face today.
• How CRO/CDMO and other pharma services’ vendors can add the most value during an expected bumpy ride for biotech's.

Allan is a senior biopharmaceutical executive and board member with 20+ years of international and transactional experience. He is a five-time public company CFO and has served on six public boards, which included the chairing of two audit and two compensation committees. He is currently involved with a portfolio of healthcare activities, including serving as Portage Biotech’s Chief Financial Officer. Prior, Shaw also served as managing director and life science practice leader for Alvarez & Marsal’s healthcare industry group. He was also CFO at Serono.

Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!

Molecule to Market is sponsored and funded by ramarketing. An international content, design and digital agency that helps companies in life sciences, get noticed.

Biotech briefs

In this special episode of Molecule to Market, we go back inside the global drug development space with previous guests Go van Dam, CEO & Founder at TRACER,  Michelle Duggan, Inward Investment Manager, Invest North East England, Peter Soelkner, Managing Director at Vetter and Ross Burn, Chief Executive at CatSci.

Your host, Raman Sehgal, revisits discussions around trends in the biotech space, from episodes including:

• Physician. Scientist. Entrepreneur.
• The UK’s hidden life science gem
• From Pharmacy to $1B family-owned CDMO
• The opportunistic entrepreneur

Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!

Molecule to Market is sponsored and funded by ramarketing. An international content, design and digital agency that helps companies in life sciences get noticed.

Africa’s biotech butterfly

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Adrienne Leussa, Director of Ecosystem Partnerships at 54gene.Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Adrienne, covering:

• How the reality of the health challenges living in Africa as a child drove Adrienne into the drug discovery space.
• A rich insight into the only remaining high growth market globally for pharma companies.
• Learn about the main cities driving drug development growth within Africa and the prospect for more localised manufacturing.
• Life working for one of the leading biotech companies in Africa.
• Living life by curiosity as an ethos to make a lasting impact in the world.

Adrienne is a Biochemist (PhD) with 10+ years of hands-on experience and a plethora of diverse technical skills within the area of drug discovery and development. She has also worked as a lecturer and researcher in top African universities helping inspire a generation of scientists through access to information on the applications of biotechnology.She is fluent in 3 of the most used languages in Africa: Portuguese, French and English, and is ardent about continued learning, cross-culture collaboration, problem solving, customer service and mentoring.Adrienne’s mission is to elevate Africa through high quality, innovative, and credible scientific output for global prosperity.

Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!

Molecule to Market is sponsored and funded by ramarketing. An international content, design and digital agency that helps companies in life sciences, get noticed.

The global pharma leader with an eye on societal impact

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with David Enloe, President and CEO at Societal™ CDMO. Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with David, covering:

• Being at the birth of viral vectors and the-infant gene therapy field in the 90s... but choosing not to be there today. 
• After a career spent all over the world - he shares his pearls of wisdom of what he’s learnt from a lifetime of international business.
• Navigating business confusion and redefining companies from the inside out, while focusing on people and patients.
• Being a humble, humane, empathetic leader that does not take himself too seriously... and makes decisions quickly.
• Uncertainty around the capital markets and what this means to the CDMO space in terms of potential headwinds.

David has over two decades of executive leadership experience in biotechnology, clinical drug development, and GMP manufacturing.He was CEO at Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma Services, CEO at Althea CMO and also served as head of Lonza’s Viral Therapeutics Business Unit, which resulted from Lonza’s acquisition of Vivante GMP Solutions. Prior to that, he spent 14 years with a biotech company, Introgen Therapeutics, and played an integral part in taking the company through a successful IPO in 2020.

Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!

Molecule to Market is sponsored and funded by ramarketing. An international content, design and digital agency that helps companies in life sciences, get noticed.

From PhD to Pioneer

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Ata Tuna Ciftlik CEO at Lunaphore.Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Ata, covering:

• Bringing the next generation ‘satellite for tumours’ sequencing tools for immuno oncology and cancer research to drug discovery, and eventually the mainstream.
• Why life science start-ups need data to survive and thrive. And key lessons of entrepreneurship, from theory to reality.
• The avalanche effect - from a 2.5k competition fundraise to $50m in a market on-track to become $10b.
• Unmissable leadership lessons from PhD-start up to global life science business.

Ata Tuna Ciftlik was born in Ankara, Turkey. He received a double-B.Sc in Mathematics and Electronics Engineering from Middle East Technical University (METU) in 2006. He started interdisciplinary research at the interface of Microfluidics and Biology during his MSc studies in METU, where he received thesis of the year 2009 prize.

Next, he obtained interdisciplinary PhD in Biomedical Microfluidic Systems from Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and was awarded internationally known Dimitris N. Chorafas foundation prize in the category of cutting egde technology.After inventing its core technology during his PhD, he has co-founded Lunaphore in 2014.

Lunaphore so far received USD 60 million financing from private and public sources, lead multiple innovation projects in Switzerland and Europe, counts close to 100 people, appeared more than 100 times in national and international media channels, claimed 22 awards and has consistently been selected as one of the best start-ups in the country. Ata Tuna is married, has 2 children and enjoys biking, running and hiking.

Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!Molecule to Market is sponsored and funded by ramarketing. An international content, design and digital agency that helps companies in life sciences, get noticed.

Supply chain challenges and trends

In this special one-off episode of Molecule to Market, your host Raman Sehgal embarks on a solo cast to cover some of the major supply chain themes uncovered through Molecule to Market interviews.
The insights were originally delivered live on stage at CPhI North America 2022. Whether you’re a CDMO, CPO, drug sponsor or equipment vendor - this is not to be missed.Your host, Raman, covers:

• 4 main challenges the sector has felt over the last two years 
• 4 solutions we are seeing and that you may want to think about
• 4 trends you need to know for your business

Along with being the host of Molecule to Market, Raman Sehgal is the founder of PE-backed ramarketing, co-founder of Lead Candidate, and best-selling author of The Floundering Founder.Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!

Molecule to Market is sponsored and funded by ramarketing. An international content, design and digital agency that helps companies in life sciences, get noticed.

Chats from CPhI North America

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with your host, Raman Sehgal, who discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain live from CPhI North America 2022, with:

• Robert Lee, President at Lubrizol Life Science Health - CDMO Division at The Lubrizol Corporation
• Lauren (Naughton) Hanna, Publisher at Contract Pharma
• Bob Macadangdang, Client Development Manager at Sharp, Contract Pharmaceutical Packaging
• Stephen Houldsworth, VP, Global Head of Platform Management & Marketing - Corden Pharma International
• Claire Robinson, Partnership Manager at Sterling Pharma Solutions

What are the biggest challenges in our space? What are the latest trends? What should you be aware of? Listen and find out what our guests think!

Please subscribe, tell your industry colleagues and join us in celebrating and promoting the value and importance of the global life science outsourcing space. We’d also appreciate a positive rating!

Molecule to Market is sponsored and funded by ramarketing. An international content, design and digital agency that helps companies in life sciences, get noticed.