It’s hard to discuss the life sciences today without talking about advanced therapeutics and personalized medicine. We are currently in a period of massive innovation that will reshape the delivery of medicine for decades to come. Where once pharmaceutical companies were laser focused on blockbuster drugs, today they are exploring more targeted therapeutic research that identifies and treats the specific needs of individual patients.
As Kristel Biehler explores in her recent article in Pharmaceutical Processing, this shift is also prompting life sciences companies to take on new strategies for success, and that shift includes the way they implement automation.
“Flexibility, integration, and seamless technology transfer and scalability are all critical differentiators for success, but also particularly complex to capture at the small scale of most cell and gene therapy operations. Automation is often the solution, but teams must be strategic in the way they pursue an automation strategy.”
Flexibility and scalability are key
A personalized medicine startup may begin with just a single benchtop bioreactor, but nobody plans to stay at that small scale forever. Those initial years are simply a springboard to successes that allow the company to grow and mature. Knowing this, it makes sense for companies to plan for that flexibility and growth from the very first moments of operation. The most effective organizations today are born digital, implementing automation at the earliest stages to help them get where they want to go.
Technology like DeltaV™ Process Knowledge Management (PKM) software can help from the earliest stages to accelerate technology transfers, standardize processes, and boost flexibility. By replacing manual, paper-based methods with a structured repository and collaborative digital platform, teams can better navigate every stage of development.
However, not every technology solution is created equally.
“For each solution, there will be many options from a wide variety of suppliers. However, if the selection is not made thoughtfully, teams can quickly end up with operators needing to navigate several disparate systems, jumping back and forth among them.”
When systems don’t seamlessly interconnect, transitioning from stage to stage of the drug development pipeline becomes far more difficult. The next team in line must find ways to collect, convert, and utilize the data from systems they may not use or be familiar with. This not only increases the time it takes to move to the next step but also raises the possibility of introducing errors as data is converted.
Forward thinking solutions
The answer is to start planning for a long-term, future proofed digital strategy from the very beginning, which means planning with a Boundless Automation vision in mind. As teams focus on seamless data mobility, they can more easily integrate new solutions into their existing infrastructure, helping ease the technology transfer process via a seamless data fabric that helps move information—with context—automatically between integrated systems.
“It is possible to find solutions that promote simplicity rather than complexity—if teams plan for those strategies from the earliest stages of development.”
Modern, fit-for-purpose solutions like the DeltaV Distributed Control System, DeltaV Manufacturing Execution System, and other elements of Emerson’s suite of life sciences software in the DeltaV Automation Platform are all designed to work seamlessly to make it easier for organizations to select and connect critical tools necessary to bring quality treatments to patients faster, safer and more sustainably.
Capturing competitive advantage
There has never been a more exciting time to be an innovator in the life sciences. However, the field has also never been more crowded, nor the stakes as high. Bringing new treatments to market safely, quickly, and cost effectively can be a critical differentiator for any organization. The tools exist to simplify that process via a born digital approach, and they can be implemented today to help teams turn their innovation into reality.
