Molecule to Market: Inside the outsourcing space

The puzzle-solving CEO

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Steven Chevillotte, Chief Executive Officer at SaniSure.

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Steven, covering:

• Building a great partner through professionalization and integration while retaining founder DNA of entrepreneurship and innovation
• The transformation of quality components and complex assemblies to game changing systems and solutions
• How SaniSure differentiates from smaller and larger bioprocessing organizations
• Why exceptionally robust and clean products coupled with excellence in customized components and designing flow paths make SaniSure the partner of choice for Advanced Therapies (Eg: Cell Therapy)
• Making the bioprocessing supply chain more robust

SaniSure CEO Steven has held senior leadership roles in finance, operations, and general management at precision manufacturing businesses, always in highly engineered and highly regulated industries, including Class III Medical Devices and Aerospace & Defense. Has learned best practices at large public and private companies and has developed an expertise and passion for hands-on transformation through strategy deployment. He is experienced with M&A and integration in PE-backed environments and has led a successful exit process. Steve holds Masters degrees in Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Financial Analysis & Accountancy.

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Molecule to Market is sponsored and funded by ramarketing, an international marketing, design, digital and content agency helping comp

Summer sentiment: A life science industry check-in & where you'll find me

In this mid year episode special, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with your host, Raman Sehgal, who reflects on the trends happening across the life sciences and outsourcing space in 2024. 

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain covering: 

• The anticipated recovery of the biotech sector and where it stands now
• Geopolitical influences on the life sciences industry, with a focus on the CDMO sector
• Exciting upcoming episodes and insights to watch for in the next few weeks
• Where to meet Raman at upcoming trade shows across North America & Europe
• Sectors powering through industry challenges, including early-stage development and AI-driven drug discovery

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 marketing, design, digital, and content agency helping companies differentiate, get noticed and grow in life sciences.

Pivoting to partnership success in clinical trial

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Yussuf Goolam, Co-Founder, President and CEO at RxSource.

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Yussuf, covering:

• His family's journey from Mozambique to North America and the value of having an entrepreneurial ethos
• Lifelong business lessons from a window cleaning job... and the impact of going on a learning rampage
• The real-life grind of getting a business off the ground and always being willing to chase an opportunity
• The pivot that led to becoming a global partner for clinical trial supplies and not just a transactional sourcing supplier
• The importance of purpose, mission, values, culture and clarity in building a fiercely loyal and fulfilled workforce
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After co-founding RxSource in 2005, Yussuf’s initial focus was developing and expanding the company’s brand and client base globally. In early 2020, he assumed a new role as President and CEO and guided the organisation through a significant transformation. Since shifting the focus to clinical trial supply chain services, the company has grown to over 60 team members worldwide, supporting CROs, biotechs, and sponsors.

With over 20 years of experience in the niche pharmaceutical sector, he is dedicated to building a purpose-driven company by supporting a team of high-performing individuals to achieve their personal and professional goals together.

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 marketing, design, digital and content agency helping companies differentiate, get noticed and grow in life sciences.

A Sterling, CDMO leader

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Kevin Cook, CEO at Sterling Pharma Solutions.

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Kevin, covering:

• Decades of mixed ownership and conflicting business models led to lots of character-building learnings... and the rebirth of Sterling
• The power of a rebrand and sense of togetherness to gain commercial traction
• Kevin’s five-point M&A playbook that’s helped drive exponential, transatlantic growth
• Why culture and people are the hardest things when scaling from 180 colleagues on one site to a 1300+ strong team across six sites
• The robustness of small molecules, on-shoring back to the West and reasons to be optimistic for the future

Kevin has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He started working with Robinson Brothers as an Assistant Plant Manager before progressing to Senior Plant Manager. Kevin then joined Boots Pharmaceuticals with responsibility for commissioning activities on a new pharmaceutical plant.

In 1993 Kevin joined Sterling Organics and has supported the site through several mergers and acquisitions over 18 years. At that time, he was Operations Director for Chirex, Industrial Director for Rhodia Pharma Solutions, and President of Shasun Pharma Solutions.

In 2010, Kevin joined Aesica Pharmaceuticals as the Managing Director for the API business unit with a clear focus on growth through increasing the customer and product portfolio. Kevin returned to Shasun Pharma Solutions in 2013 to take responsibility for all commercial activities relating to the pharmaceutical service business. Having overseen the launch of Sterling Pharma Solutions as an independent CDMO, he was appointed CEO, President, and Board Member.

 

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 marketing, design, digital and content agency helping companies differentiate, get noticed and grow in life sciences.

AI as a force for good in drug development

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Vijay Vaswani, Co-Founder & CEO at Omniscope.

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Vijay, covering:

• How travel expands the mind and enables you to amplify your network
• The founding story of Omniscope and its mission of using tech to help unlock the immune system
• AI can read the immune system in HD, helping with clinical trials and predictive candidate selection
• How you should be thinking about AI for drug discovery and drug development
• And what the t-shirt he wears at work says on the front...

Vijay Vaswani views technology as fundamental to humanity. He has been involved in scaling companies such as Illumina and 10X Genomics. During his leadership at Siemens Healthineers and Meridian Biosciences, he acquired and commercialized disruptive diagnostic technologies. Vijay has also participated in important IPOs in the biotechnology industry and finds his passion in improving health through the application of technology.

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 marketing, design, digital, and content agency helping companies differentiate, get noticed, and grow in life sciences.

 

See you at BPI!

M2M host, Raman Sehgal will be attending the BPI event in Boston this September. The BPI team has given M2M listeners an exclusive discount code for event passes - enjoy 30% off using the code MOLECULE30 or follow this link: https://informaconnect.com/bioprocessinternational/?vip_code=MOLECULE30&utm_source=molecule2market&utm_medium=website

Don't miss out and we'll see you in September!

Harnessing tech to improve the economics of making medicine

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the global drug development and GMP Manufacturing space with David Staunton, Head of Life Sciences Transformation at Cognizant.

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with David, covering:

• Why being a supplier is harder if you have not been on the client side
• An industry driven by change and the importance of digital strategy to drive business outcomes
• Why pharma companies need to be both big and fast to win
• How AI is accelerating promising molecules and leading to GMP Manufacturing and supply bottlenecks
• The future of deployable, modular factories to service population centers that provide better access to personalized medicines
• How generative AI is impacting the industry right now, and how will this evolve with the introduction of robots (or ‘cobots’)

David leads transformation and generative AI, collaborating closely with tier 1 pharma and biotech client teams worldwide. Over the last 25+ years, David has established and directed international teams, pioneering practical, proven, and innovative programs that revolutionize new product introduction (NPI) and GMP manufacturing & supply.

In consistent dialogue with CIOs, Global VPs of Engineering, Quality VPs, and Site Heads of GMP Manufacturing and Lab facilities, David leads the delivery of Transformation Services for Industry 4.0. David is an internationally recognized speaker on Industry 4.0 and has given lectures on various UCD Master’s Programmes.

LinkedIn: (6) David Staunton | LinkedIn

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 marketing, design, digital, and content agency that helps companies differentiate, get noticed, and grow in the life sciences.

Tasty Topics: Addressing the potential impact of the BIOSECURE Act

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with:

• Tom Willson, Vice President of Contract Manufacturing at Pfizer CentreOne
• Hanna Lesch, Chief Technology Officer at Exothera 
• Stephen Grant, entrepreneurial advisor and angel investor

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Tom, Hanna, and Stephen, covering:

• Unraveling the potential seismic shift in the pharmaceutical outsourcing industry; the BIOSECURE Act and its implications
• Will the BIOSECURE Act accelerate a trend toward a more regionalized approach to drug development and manufacturing?
• How Biotechs/CDMOs are going to adapt their strategies post BIOSECURE Act
• What impacts BIOSECURE will have on the supply chain 

 

The BIOSECURE Act has the potential to significantly restrict the ability of biotechnology companies to collaborate with certain Chinese companies without losing the ability to contract with the US government. Our guests provide insightful perspectives on the potential implications of this legislation on the supply chain of life-saving drugs across America.

 

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 marketing, design, digital and content agency helping companies differentiate, get noticed and grow in life sciences.

Becoming...a world class scientific leader

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Mihaela Simianu, Vice President of R&D and Operations at Singota Solutions.

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Mihaela, covering:

• How having physician parents in Romania motivated Mihaela into a career in the biopharmaceutical space
• What 17 years at Eli Lilly taught her about drug development and commercialization... and why she ultimately left for Amgen
• Why, after 25 years on the drug sponsor-side, she opted to move onto the CDMO side
• The rapid, complex, and fascinating experience of being part of a small CDMO that supports multiple sponsors to serve patients
• The advisory and execution role of a CDMO partner

Dr. Simianu is a transformational leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, renowned for advancing technology and therapeutic products to enhance personalized medicine and public health. She has achieved significant outcomes for multi-billion-dollar organizations, leading to the approval of 20+ new therapeutic agents and the introduction of commercial processes at more than thirty manufacturing sites globally across her tenure with Eli Lilly, Amgen, and Merck.

Her expertise spans multiple disease areas, and she excels in integrating raw material suppliers, facilities, and engineering equipment into pharmaceutical systems. Specializing in modern product development, quality, and manufacturing systems, she has played a pivotal role in injectable drug commercialization and market expansion. She advanced a portfolio of over thirty-five new pipeline products.

Dr. Simianu holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Marquette University, an M.S./B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, and a Jack Welch Management Institute certification. She is a recognized international industry expert and has actively volunteered for the Parenteral Drug Association for over 20 years.

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 marketing, design, digital and content agency helping companies differentiate, get noticed and grow in life sciences.

Mission-driven doctor, inventor & entrepreneur

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Doctor Eric Edwards, Co-Founder and CEO at Phlow.

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Eric, covering:

• How a life-threatening allergy for him and his identical twin brother led to a career in medicine and then an entrepreneurial journey in the pharma space
• The journey from inventors to becoming a commercial pharma company... followed by a $310m exit
• How a plan to support a shortage in critical medicines for children took a turn as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived
• The US Government awarded a $899m contract to help rebuild the domestic industrial base for Covid medicines and longer-term advanced manufacturing
• The paradox of innovative, specialty, expensive medicines vs. drug shortages for basic essential medicines that everyone should be able to access

As CEO, Eric has assembled a world-class team committed to providing a solution to the broken essential medicines supply chain and the overreliance on foreign manufacturers for the US' highest priority medicines.

He previously co-founded Kaléo, where he held several executive management positions, including Chief Science Officer, Chief Medical Officer, and Vice President.

Dr. Edwards is the co-inventor of multiple marketed products for treating allergic emergencies (anaphylaxis), named on over 215 issued and patent-pending applications.

As a Doctor of Medicine and a Biology Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Eric also continues to serve his community by volunteering on a local rescue squad. This includes responding to 911 calls and training paramedics in pre-hospital emergency care.

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 marketing, design, digital and content agency helping companies differentiate, get noticed and grow in life sciences.

The boomerang boy impacting gene therapies

In this episode of Molecule to Market, you’ll go inside the outsourcing space of the global drug development sector with Andy Holt, CCO of Viralgen Vector Core.

Your host, Raman Sehgal, discusses the pharmaceutical and biotechnology supply chain with Andy, covering:

• Growing a CDMO while dealmaking in a gene therapy company…at the same time
• Selling a revenue-generating therapy company to Bayer during the pandemic
• Faster failure or faster acceleration; the need to celebrate every gene therapy batch as it’s going to save lives
• The challenges of manufacturing AAV gene therapies and why the next generation of CGT CDMOs need a voice at the table 

Andy has been working on the business side of cell and gene therapy for more than 15 years, focused on creatively connecting science and solutions, whether health care for whale sharks or supporting multi-billion dollar transactions between biotech and big pharma. 

Along the way, he has held positions in business development and management for several large CDMOs like Lonza and MilliporeSigma, leadership positions in Askbio, Ncardia, and Cellistic, and his current role as Chief Commercial Officer for Viralgen, a pioneering AAV-focused CDMO leveraging Askbio’s manufacturing expertise for clients around the world.

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 marketing, design, digital, and content agency that helps companies differentiate, get noticed, and grow in the life sciences.