Life Sciences

Had the pleasure of attending this event today.  Summary below. The University of Chicago Innovation Fund (IF) is excited to announce the Fall 2017 investment cycle. Applicants from across the University of Chicago, Argonne National Lab, Fermilab, and the Marine Biology Laboratory will compete for up to $250,000 in proof-of-concept capital. Previous finalists have built exciting technologies across a wide range of industries representative of the core strengths of the University …

The factory of the future must consider the requirements of an ongoing changing product portfolio. Mergers and acquisitions lead more frequently to product transfers and closing down of older factories. Shorter product cycles and changes on market demands may turn big production volumes to smaller ones and vice versa. The block buster model is decreasing and the diversity of the product portfolio will be increasing, which will have an impact …

Had the pleasure of attending this event today.  Summary below. The University of Chicago Innovation Fund (IF) is excited to announce the Fall 2017 investment cycle. Applicants from across the University of Chicago, Argonne National Lab, Fermilab, and the Marine Biology Laboratory will compete for up to $250,000 in proof-of-concept capital. Previous finalists have built exciting technologies across a wide range of industries representative of the core strengths of the University …

As the block buster drug pipeline decreases; strategy consulting and analysts are advising Life Sciences companies to focus on core competencies like complex Biologics manufacturing, that have high potential for growth with Biosimilars to retain market share. These manufacturers have already outsourced IT shared services like Travel & Expenses, HR, Call-center Support etc., as they transition to cloud with Capex/Opex consideration, thereby improving margins. Today, in this digital transformation age, …

The enormous cost associated with drug development is one of the biggest challenges for pharmaceutical manufacturers. With an estimated cost of $2.6 billion and more than 10 years (1) to develop and test a drug candidate, the pharmaceutical industry is constantly looking for new efficiencies that will save time, money, research, and resources. One new ally that is showing promise is artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. AI is proving …

Following years of growth and favorable market trends, the global life sciences industry now finds itself facing a challenging “new normal.” A changing health care landscape, expiring patents and generic competition, pricing pressures, heightened regulatory scrutiny, expansion into emerging markets, increasing alliances and acquisitions, and a persistent economic slowdown are prompting global life sciences companies to adopt new business models. These new models are designed to counter slowing sales growth …

Pharmaceutical companies of all sizes meanwhile routinely outsource much of their research, development and/or manufacturing requirements to contract organizations around the globe. Outsourcing increases the overall performance of pharmaceutical companies by allowing them to focus their resources on core activities, such as understanding the fundamental effects of disease states, the discovery of novel therapies, and possible marketing and distribution of the drug.   Therefore, the contract research, development and manufacturing …

  Medical devices, whether used at home by patients, or in the hospital, are relied upon to be in operation consistently. The average hospital is operating a “manufacturing facility” that must be in operation 24/7 with big consequences when their machines go down. When medical devices don’t work – “device downtime” – it is a cost-driver for providers, and a barrier to treatment for patients.  However, it also represents an …

Blockchain is here and drives value within the serialization process. The DSCSA regulation requires manufacturers to serialize product; however today, DSCSA actually does not require the manufacturer to give the serial numbers to the distributors. Solution – Blockchain! If you have a platform which supports blockchain services and leverages a serialization solution which is tightly integrated with your ERP – you are in great position to use blockchain to pass …

The global pharmaceutical industry is becoming ever more digitized, connected and traceability  centric. A wave of global mandates exist in the industry, to which SAP reacted to in 2015, by the creation of a network which integrates members of the pharmaceutical supply chain. Since then, SAP has positioned itself as one of the global leaders in this domain, providing an innovative business network, powered by SAP Cloud Platform, which provides …