Partnering deep: getting to the bottom of drug development and manufacturing
Drug development is changing. Many drug development pipelines include more complex, biologically-derived therapeutics. These new therapeutic modalities, such as CRISPR/Cas9-edited autologous cell therapies, are changing what is possible to treat in medicine. The recent FDA approval of the CRISPR-edited cell therapy treatment for sickle cell disease is only the first. This single approval may eventually be seen as an initial small step in medicine as a part of a giant leap towards the widespread manufacture and administration of genomic medicines. Despite this advancement, immense challenges in research, development, and manufacture remain unresolved. Strategic partnerships are essential to deliver these new, bio-based medicines.
Partnership is key to delivering on the promise of the next generation of biotherapeutics. The standardization, scale, and technologies required to quickly bring drugs to market cannot be accomplished alone. We see multiple ways to deliver solutions that can aggregate into critical process improvements:
- Laboratory automation enables constant running of protocols and processes, allowing researchers to achieve more consistent and efficient results, reducing time to data and minimizing the wasteful use of single-use plastics.
- Analytical methods developed during drug discovery can be validated and moved to the manufacturing phase, thereby preventing the need for costly revalidation during technology transfer.
- Digital solutions, such as bespoke AI/ML to analyze images and large datasets, lifecycle management software, and analytical instrument integrations, will reduce subjectivity and drive consistency in data analysis.
- Services, such as research-grade raw materials supply and cGMP drug product manufacturing, help new breakthroughs scale to become the next modality.
The Life Sciences companies of Danaher are applying science and technology to deliver the future of human health. Driven by our culture of continuous improvement, we are accelerating innovation and solving our customers’ most complex challenges while setting the foundation for a healthier, more sustainable tomorrow. Talk to an expert at the Life Sciences companies of Danaher Corporation today.