Startups. Research & Development. CDMO’s.

I’ve worked in all of these types of companies during my biotech career.  I’ve been part of company mergers, been laid off twice, and worked my way up from an entry-level engineer to a senior scientist managing a team developing multiple projects.  Each type of company I’ve worked for, and even every molecule I’ve worked on, has brought its own challenges and resulted in teaching me something new and interesting.

Process Development. MSAT. Quality. Manufacturing.

Success in biotech comes from cross-functional teams and understanding of how every group contributes to the whole that is a successful filing to produce a commercial product.  With every project requiring years and the efforts of hundreds of people, it’s critical to work well with people from multiple different areas.  One of my favorite parts of my work recently has been the opportunity to work closely with and learn from functional areas that were simply not visible to me earlier in my career, and I want to share this knowledge with others.

Questions about Biotech?

It has become clear to me in recent years that a lot of people, especially those earlier in their careers or those working adjacent to the scientific departments, don’t know how everything in biotech fits together.  Some scientists end up becoming so specialized that they don’t even know what the groups around them work on, which limits their understanding and ability to work as a cohesive team.  Vendors develop exciting new technologies, but don’t know the right companies or scientists to target to try out their new ideas.  The GMP and GLP teams are so focused on the documentation and avoiding deviations that they never get the chance to learn about the processes and molecules that they are working on.  Clients looking for CDMO’s don’t know the right questions to ask and are tasked with unrealistic timelines to meet market demands, resulting in a tough transfer and challenging regulatory filings.