Springing Forward

Returning to the office on the back of a successful INTERPHEX 2023, and it seems the return of in-person conferences has been solidified as the world wakes up after an extended hibernation period of COVID quarantine. Spring is back, not just in the weather, but also in conference-goers’ steps!

INTERPHEX was back in its usual haunt at the Javits Center in New York City, where engineers, manufacturers, c-level executives, and others came together to forge new and nurture already established pharma and biotech relationships. For the Pharmaceutical Technology® team, the Keynote stage was the platform where the editors shed light on specific key trends set to shape the industry moving forward.

Leading the charge, on April 25, 2023, was a session on mRNA Supplier-developer Relationships and Technical Advances, where discussion revolved around the continued progress of mRNA-based therapies, which, thanks to the mRNA vaccines, have been largely optimized for stability, structure, and delivery. The industry is looking to novel delivery methods for these innovative therapies as efforts to ramp up dose-loading capabilities have led to new intellectual property filings. The second session on Tuesday, Cell and Gene Therapy Scale Up and Process Optimization, saw experts exploring issues around the manufacturing of viral vectors, whose complexity requires components not needed in stable, recombinant protein-expressing production systems.

The morning of April 26, 2023, saw the exciting dialogue continue with the Organ on a Chip for Pharmaceutical Development session. Here, experts shared their insights and experiences in the up-and-coming technology of organ-on-a-chip, which is poised at a tipping point in the drug discovery arena as well as in the shift toward personalized medicine. The afternoon session on Wednesday, and close of the keynote sessions for INTERPHEX, focused on Applied Continuous and Modular Manufacturing Innovations, where experts evaluated how the bio/pharma industry is building on the small successes of continuous manufacturing (CM). With new industry guidance on CM (1), there may likely be increased use of CM technologies for a variety of therapeutics, including small molecules, biologics, vaccines, and other modalities.

If you missed out on INTERPHEX, session information and further conference coverage can be found on www.interphex.com and at PharmTech.com.

References

1. FDA, Guidance for Industry, Q13 Continuous Manufacturing of Drug Substances and Drug Products (CDER, March 2023).

About the author

Feliza Mirasol is the science editor for Pharmaceutical Technology.

Article details

Pharmaceutical Technology
Vol. 47, No. 5
May 2023
Page: 10

Citation

When referring to this article, please cite it as Mirasol, F. Springing Forward. Pharmaceutical Technology 2023, 47 (5), 10.