Welcome to the PharmaSource podcast: the pharma and biotech podcast that explores the latest trends, challenges, and commercial opportunities shaping the biopha...
From Cars to Cures: What Pharma Can Learn from Toyota's Supplier Excellence
“The automotive industry was once in a similar setup to big pharma players, but they evolved through closer supplier collaboration and continuous improvement practices,” says Fabrice Le Garrec, drawing parallels between today’s pharmaceutical manufacturing challenges and the automotive industry’s transformation. “Toyota’s model of developing suppliers as an extension of your company is something pharma isn’t doing enough of.”
Fabrice Le Garrec brings extensive pharmaceutical operations experience as former VP of Global Operations at Teva and GSK, and ex-McKinsey consultant. Through OSCIS Network, he now leads a network of over 100 pharmaceutical professionals providing performance transformation services across North America and Europe.
In the latest episode of the PharmaSource podcast, Fabrice shares crucial insights about how pharmaceutical manufacturers can transform their operations by adopting Toyota’s proven approaches to supplier integration, continuous improvement, and operational excellence, including lessons learned during the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing ramp-up.
Don’t miss Fabrice’s talk at CDMO Live 2025: 10 things I’d do differently if leading new fast-track pandemic drug launch again. Download the agenda here
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Cell and Gene Therapy Manufacturing: How 2D Automated Closed Systems are Transforming CGT - Interview with Kolon Biotech
Kolon Biotech's Jungjong Cho believes that the future of cell and gene therapy lies in automation, which offers unprecedented precision and cost efficiencies.
"Traditional manufacturing is prone to human error and variability among operators, affecting the quality of the product," JJ explains. "To overcome these disadvantages, our robotic manipulator significantly reduces these errors and ensures batch-to-batch consistency."
Kolon Biotech is pioneering the use of two innovative technologies that are reshaping manufacturing capabilities:
The 2D Automated Closed Platform represents a quantum leap in manufacturing precision.
The use of 3D Bioreactors further demonstrates the power of scale-up technologies.
Read the full interview
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13:21
Bayer’s Supply Chain Transformation: Why Traditional Pharma Models Must Change
“The Americans put a man on the moon in less time than it takes us to transfer a product between countries – this has to change,” says Luiz Barberini, who leads External Manufacturing for Bayer Consumer Health across Latin America.
Luiz Barberini combines over three decades of pharmaceutical supply chain expertise from roles at Pfizer, Merck and now Bayer with academic positions at Brazil’s leading business schools. His unique perspective spans both practical implementation and theoretical frameworks for supply chain excellence.
In this exclusive interview with PharmaSource, Luiz shares why pharmaceutical companies must fundamentally transform their approach to supply chain management, offering practical insights on breaking down organisational silos, accelerating time-to-market, and building collaborative supplier relationships in an increasingly complex global landscape.
Read the full article here
The Netherlands has emerged as one of Europe's most vibrant and interconnected biotech ecosystems, home to over 1,797 life science companies, world-class pharmaceutical manufacturers, and the European Medicines Agency.
With its strategic location, exceptional infrastructure, and collaborative spirit, the country has become known as 'what industry leaders call 'Europe's connected life sciences & health metropolis'.
Ahead of CDMO Live 2025, which takes place in Rotterdam's historic World Trade Center this May, we gathered insights from three leaders at the heart of the Netherlands' biotechnology sector. Wieteke Wouters, Program Director at hollandbio, which represents over 260 biotech companies; Esther Peters, Director of Leiden Bio Science Park, the country's largest life sciences hub; and Ellen Smit, Managing Director of Rotterdam Square, the organisation behind the emerging health tech campus in Rotterdam, shared their perspectives on what makes the Dutch biotech ecosystem uniquely successful.
Read the full article
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Lipid Nanoparticles (LNPs) Manufacturing Explained: Interview with Alexander Aust
“The market for lipid nanoparticles really exploded during COVID-19,” says Alexander Aust, LNP manufacturing expert.
Alexander Aust, a consultant specialising in lipid nanoparticle (LNP) manufacturing, brings years of experience from companies like Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals and Exelead. His expertise spans from commercial liposomal drug products to cutting-edge mRNA and gene editing technologies.
In the latest PharmaSource podcast episode, Alexander explains why LNPs have become crucial in drug delivery, particularly for mRNA vaccines, and shares insights on manufacturing challenges, regulatory considerations, and future applications of this technology.
Read the full article
Welcome to the PharmaSource podcast: the pharma and biotech podcast that explores the latest trends, challenges, and commercial opportunities shaping the biopharma outsourcing.
In each episode we'll be speaking with top executives, researchers, and outsourcing experts, who share their perspectives on topics such as building a smarter, more sustainable supply chain, how to partner with CDMOs, digital transformation, procurement and external manufacturing strategies, and plenty more besides.
Make sure to subscribe for your regular dose of pharma insight.
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