FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies

UK medicines manufacturing is buoyant after its incredible contribution to the pandemic after strong collaboration between industry, academia and government to develop, manufacture, and scale up COVID-19 vaccines. UK’s manufacturing ecosystem has seen increased private and public sector investments into both manufacturing capability and supply chains since the start of the pandemic particularly in existing clusters such as Stevenage and Darlington as well as the Golden Triangle.

BIA regularly spotlights member companies and the great work they’re doing to advance the life sciences industry and support the patients we serve. This month, we spoke with Andy Topping, PhD, CSO of FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. Andy has served as Chief Scientific Officer since October 2015. Over his tenure, he has served in several scientific roles working with customers to develop innovative and scientifically sound solutions to programmes.

Dr Ruth McKernan CBE, former chair of the BioIndustry Association and former Chair of Innovate UK, discusses the future of antivirals in relation to COVID-19 and how this works with current government processes.

The public interest in the development of a successful COVID-19 vaccine has resulted in unprecedented attention for the UK bioprocessing and manufacturing community in 2020. You would be hard pressed to find a day in recent memory where a vaccine and how it will be made has not appeared in the news. The work that companies have done to support the manufacturing capacity required to scale a successful vaccine here in the UK has been extraordinary. In this blog, I explore the benefits and opportunities this presents ahead of the bioProcessUK conference in December.

At the 19th annual bioProcessUK conference (15-17 November, Edinburgh), we’ll be discussing biotech innovation and growth in the UK, including continuous process manufacturing. To get a warmup, read our latest blog post from Nick Hutchinson, EngD, Business Steering Group Lead (Mammalian Cell Culture) at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB). At the conference, be sure to attend the session “Growing the UK Biomanufacturing Footprint” which includes Jonathan Haigh, PhD, Vice President Process Development at FDB.