Article: Safe Passage: Step Changing Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing

The biopharmaceutical industry is reaching a critical growth stage. The impact of biopharma has moved well beyond the potential stage and is now a reality. Some of the markets pioneered by biopharma companies, such as treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, have reached blockbuster proportions. Biopharma products are providing immense health care benefi t for many patients, including those with conditions such as multiple sclerosis, leukaemia and diabetes, and the industry also plays a major role in developing preventative vaccines and long-term replacement therapies.

One of the key challenges for biopharma companies is to match this new reality with the manufacturing scale and efficiency that can respond to market and growth needs. Despite the pathfinding innovative character of the sector, manufacturing processes and plant are sub-optimal. The industry has had to scale up in a short space of time and this has created challenges for manufacturing plant. A key part of the next stage of growth for biopharma companies is how they can transform today's manufacturing plant into tomorrow's centres of mass production.