Celebrating the North’s world-class manufacturing sector at Pharma Manufacturing 2024
Published on 15/05/2024
Pharma Manufacturing was once again sold out as we welcomed nearly 200 delegates, exhibitors, and speakers. Industry, academic and regulatory experts came together to collaborate and share their experiences and expertise through talks, panel discussions, exhibitions and networking to identify challenges and opportunities in the industry.
Discussions and talks focused on the North as a hub of pharma manufacturing, innovation in digitisation, emerging technologies and skills for the 21st century workforce, with a session on technology transfer case studies closing out the conference.
We heard from two keynote speakers: Nige Hilton, Vice President of Manufacturing & Site Head at CSL Seqirus, and GSK’s MSAT Technical Director, Rachel Lewin.
The theme of the first keynote examined the social impact beyond the therapeutic effect of our medicines, including sustainability, a closer look at the concepts of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and social value, and barriers to progress.
Key takeaways focused on the challenge of implementing social value, such as the lack of a clear definition, leading to complexity in how it’s measured and leaving it open to abuse; the benefits of social value, including increased trust and employee satisfaction, strengthened staff retention and the mitigation of business risk; and how we should aim to be greater than the sum of our parts, asking questions like should social impact strategies be constrained by company boundaries, and should we be leveraging resources, skills, and working collectively to maximise social impact?
The second keynote demonstrated how GSK’s new £90million smart manufacturing facility at its Barnard Castle site provides a fully automated, paperless and digital approach, enabling manufacturing operations to be as efficient as possible, with innovative products being launched at speed whilst reducing waste, as the facility was built to strict sustainability criteria in line with GSK’s targets to be net zero and nature positive by 2030.
Other highlights of the day included the first panel discussion, which explored the North as a pharma manufacturing hotspot, with an emphasis on co-operation and collaboration across the whole northern region to promote the sector; the technology transfer case studies session demonstrating how a successful local collaboration partner can boost manufacturing innovation and knowing when to outsource; and the skills for the modern workforce talks addressing the STEM skills shortage challenge by positioning the UK as a competitive destination for top talent from overseas, as well as providing young people with the right skillset to succeed in a STEM career.
Bionow’s CEO, Geoff Davison, commented: “We are delighted to host another sold out event with so many industry experts contributing their experiences and insights from all corners of the pharma manufacturing sector (and representing all corners of the North). This industry is such an important part of the Life Sciences picture and it’s vital to provide a platform to promote collaboration, highlight the successes and address the challenges faced.”
Pharma Manufacturing 2024 is supported by CSL Seqirus, Pharmaron Biologics (UK), Elanco, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, Sterling Pharma Solutions, Quotient Sciences, Invest Liverpool City Region, Growth Platform and Bouygues Energies & Services.
Discussions and talks focused on the North as a hub of pharma manufacturing, innovation in digitisation, emerging technologies and skills for the 21st century workforce, with a session on technology transfer case studies closing out the conference.
We heard from two keynote speakers: Nige Hilton, Vice President of Manufacturing & Site Head at CSL Seqirus, and GSK’s MSAT Technical Director, Rachel Lewin.
The theme of the first keynote examined the social impact beyond the therapeutic effect of our medicines, including sustainability, a closer look at the concepts of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and social value, and barriers to progress.
Key takeaways focused on the challenge of implementing social value, such as the lack of a clear definition, leading to complexity in how it’s measured and leaving it open to abuse; the benefits of social value, including increased trust and employee satisfaction, strengthened staff retention and the mitigation of business risk; and how we should aim to be greater than the sum of our parts, asking questions like should social impact strategies be constrained by company boundaries, and should we be leveraging resources, skills, and working collectively to maximise social impact?
The second keynote demonstrated how GSK’s new £90million smart manufacturing facility at its Barnard Castle site provides a fully automated, paperless and digital approach, enabling manufacturing operations to be as efficient as possible, with innovative products being launched at speed whilst reducing waste, as the facility was built to strict sustainability criteria in line with GSK’s targets to be net zero and nature positive by 2030.
Other highlights of the day included the first panel discussion, which explored the North as a pharma manufacturing hotspot, with an emphasis on co-operation and collaboration across the whole northern region to promote the sector; the technology transfer case studies session demonstrating how a successful local collaboration partner can boost manufacturing innovation and knowing when to outsource; and the skills for the modern workforce talks addressing the STEM skills shortage challenge by positioning the UK as a competitive destination for top talent from overseas, as well as providing young people with the right skillset to succeed in a STEM career.
Bionow’s CEO, Geoff Davison, commented: “We are delighted to host another sold out event with so many industry experts contributing their experiences and insights from all corners of the pharma manufacturing sector (and representing all corners of the North). This industry is such an important part of the Life Sciences picture and it’s vital to provide a platform to promote collaboration, highlight the successes and address the challenges faced.”
Pharma Manufacturing 2024 is supported by CSL Seqirus, Pharmaron Biologics (UK), Elanco, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, Sterling Pharma Solutions, Quotient Sciences, Invest Liverpool City Region, Growth Platform and Bouygues Energies & Services.
