The World Biomanufacturing Forum 2024 brought together key leaders, experts, and stakeholders in the life sciences industry to discuss advancements in biomanufacturing and pressing issues. The event took place on November 27th and 28th in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Stämm was represented by our CFO, Juan Martín Cabaleiro, Ph.D., and Head of BD & Commercial Strategy, Román Ortega Bianchi, MBA who delivered a presentation on the technology behind our bioprocessor and the design of our 3D printed bioreactors.
This recap highlights key takeaways from the event and provides an overview of the discussions that shaped the future of biomanufacturing.
Key Themes and Discussions at the World Biomanufacturing Forum 2024
The forum featured a wide range of discussions, with a particular focus on the following themes:
1. Sustainable Biomanufacturing
Insights from Cornelia Haas from VTU Engineering.
Sustainability is becoming a central driver of innovation in biomanufacturing, particularly in the biopharmaceutical industry. Addressing sustainability can be approached through three key areas: process design, facility design, and the management of legacy product facilities.
In process design, sustainable practices can be integrated to optimize energy and resource use, while facility design can incorporate sustainability matrices to guide decision-making. For facilities operating with legacy products, sustainability efforts should start with energy audits to identify primary energy consumers and producers, followed by equipment-level energy flow analysis.
Financial considerations, including operational expenditures (OPEX) and capital expenditures (CAPEX), play a critical role in implementing an effective sustainability strategy. Flow diagrams are valuable tools for collecting data and simplifying the complexity of sustainability improvements. At the same time, a deep evaluation of the processes and dynamic recalculations are essential for sophisticated, ongoing improvements.
2. AI in biomanufacturing
Insights from Taha Abdul-Waness from BGP.
AI is revolutionizing biomanufacturing by automating complex tasks traditionally performed by humans, offering significant improvements in precision, speed, and cost reduction. In the pharmaceutical industry, AI’s role spans various aspects, from enhancing drug development processes to optimizing manufacturing operations.
AI in drug development can reduce costs by up to 50% and shorten timelines by 30-40%, largely by integrating multi-omic data (genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic) for more accurate disease detection—improving accuracy by 60%.
Key applications in biopharma include deviation analysis, where AI can replace manual processes by analyzing large datasets to identify patterns, predictive maintenance to anticipate and prevent equipment failures, and quality control for defect detection without rejecting acceptable products.
Despite these advances, challenges remain, such as supply chain disruptions, stringent regulatory compliance requirements, high R&D costs, cybersecurity threats, and increasing pressure to reduce the environmental impact, all of which demand adaptive, sophisticated solutions from AI systems.
3. Process Innovation & Automation for Efficiency
Panel discussion.
Digitalization is at the heart of process innovation in biomanufacturing, with operational efficiency driving much of the transformation. Sustainability continues to be a key focus, with companies adopting strategies to optimize energy consumption, minimize waste, and predict end-of-cycle processes to conserve resources, thus reducing environmental impact while enhancing efficiency.
Automation plays a crucial role in this transformation, as facilities now collect and analyze vast amounts of data to monitor and optimize production processes. Integrating AI and analytics enables real-time diagnosis, allowing for predictive and corrective actions to improve operational efficiency and prevent issues. This data-driven approach revolutionizes how biomanufacturers operate, fostering sustainability and operational improvements.
Stämm’s contributions to the dialogue
During the summit, Juan Martin and Román contributed valuable perspectives on how introducing innovative manufacturing is reshaping the biomanufacturing landscape.
Their talk emphasized the Bioprocessor, our flagship solution for scaling biologics and cell therapies with a focus on the use of 3D printed bioreactors characterized by their microvascular structure and the perks of designing inspired-by-nature solutions. The Bioprocessor was described as a “revolutionary” and “interesting” technology by audience members.
We are committed to continuing to engage with industry leaders, seek to drive sustainable practices and stay at the forefront of biotechnological advancements. We look forward to building on the discussions held at this year’s summit as we work together toward a more efficient and sustainable future for biomanufacturing.
