Amir London

Formal process and operation improvement activities are being employed in almost every biopharmaceutical manufacturing company, according to a recent survey conducted by Tefen Ltd and Millipore Corporation. The industry-wide survey was conducted to assess current biopharmaceutical operations excellence (OpEx) trends and needs, as well as OpEx perceptions and expectations related to industry suppliers.

Three meetings of the BioPharma Operations Excellence Consortium, facilitated by Tefen Operations Management Consulting, were held recently. The east coast meeting was hosted by Genzyme at its headquarters in Cambridge, MA; the west coast Chapter met at the Genentech campus in South San Francisco, CA; and the European forum held its meeting in Frankfurt, hosted by Aventis.

The BioPharma Operations Excellence Consortium, facilitated by Tefen Operations Management Consulting, continues to thrive, recently holding chapter meetings on two separate continents. The US East Coast Chapter met at Centocor's headquarters in Malvern, PA, while the European Chapter met at Sorono's facility in Vevey, Switzerland. Since its establishment in early 2002, over 45 leading biopharmaceutical companies have joined the forum, which operates on the basis of using the group's collective knowledge to drive each member company — and the industry as a whole — to world-class levels of operational effectiveness and efficiency.

Although there are many differences between the industries, especially related to regulatory requirements, there are enough similarities that the future of biopharmaceuticals with respect to contract manufacturing might look much like the semiconductor industry.

In early November 2003, Wyeth BioPharma, headquartered in Andover, MA, hosted the quarterly meeting of the BioPharma Operations Excellence Consortium. Approximately 50 people representing over 15 companies attended this first meeting of the consortium's newly established East Coast chapter.

At its August meeting, the BioPharma Operations Excellence Consortium focused on automation and IT solutions.

BioPharm International and Tefen Ltd. have teamed up to provide you with information and tools from the BioPharma Operations Excellence Consortium.