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Karen Walker, Chief Technology Officer at Kyverna Therapeutics, shares insights into the groundbreaking potential of CAR T-cell therapy to transform the treatment of autoimmune diseases. In this fireside chat, she explores emerging science, early clinical progress, and what this next frontier could mean for long-term disease remission and patient outcomes.
Continue readingChris Crowell, VP and Global Head of Manufacturing at Kite, a Gilead Company, shares strategies for advancing manufacturing and innovation to drive productivity and reduce cost of goods. He explores how process improvements, modern technologies, and flexible, future-ready capabilities are reshaping biomanufacturing—illustrated through real-world examples of measurable impact.
Continue readingBirk Vanderweeën, Senior Vice President of Global Manufacturing & Supply at Legend Biotech, shares key lessons from launching commercial manufacturing for CARVYKTI™. He highlights the challenges that shaped critical decisions along the way and the insights now guiding the next phase of CAR-T production, scaling, and delivery.
Continue readingModerator Michael Thien, former SVP & Head of Pharmaceutical Sciences, R&D at Takeda, leads a discussion with Pat Yang, Chairman of Taiwan BioManufacturing Corp, and Ran Zheng, CEO of Landmark Bio, on fostering innovation in today’s rapidly shifting healthcare landscape. The panel explores innovative approaches to developing therapies for rare and ultra-rare diseases, integrating digital tools and automation into biomanufacturing, and driving cross-functional innovation amid evolving regulatory and supply chain pressures.
Continue readingMichalle Adkins, Director of Life Sciences Strategy at Emerson, shares how digital-first workflows, automation, and AI are transforming tech transfer from a bottleneck into a competitive advantage. She explores how connected platforms streamline recipe translation, optimize scheduling, and accelerate pipeline throughput by combining intelligent technology with human expertise.
Continue readingPascal Bécotte, Managing Director at Russell Reynolds, and Marie-Noëlle Gagnon, Chief Talent Officer at Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, share how Cirque’s creative heritage inspires leadership through ambiguity and change. They explore how open communication, trust, and a strong sense of purpose empower teams to stay resilient and adaptable in high-pressure environments.
Continue readingAdam Pfeiffer, Senior Vice President at Project Farma; Angela Goodenough, Executive Director of CMC, Analytical Development & Quality Control and Interim Head of Clinical Supply Chain at AnaptysBio; Jeff Davis, VP of Clinical Manufacturing at Gilead; and George Skillin, VP of Client Engagement at Project Farma, share how to build adaptive technical operations that can keep pace with the future of biomanufacturing. They explore how to strengthen internal and external partnerships, maximize innovation and efficiency, and balance quality with speed to market in an increasingly dynamic environment.
Continue readingRainer Haemmerle, Executive Director of Manufacturing at Boehringer Ingelheim Biopharmaceuticals GmbH, shares how strategic partnerships fuel agility and excellence in biomanufacturing. He explores how collaborative models accelerate new capabilities, strengthen responsiveness from development to commercial scale, and help biopharma companies navigate evolving market and regulatory pressures.
Continue readingHow will agentic AI reshape biopharma manufacturing by 2030? In this BMWS 2025 keynote, Merck EVP Sanat Chattopadhyay explores the future of cost-effective, intelligent process innovation across global manufacturing networks.
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For this special episode of Executive Platforms’ bluEPrint Podcast series we had some of the most senior speakers and delegates from the 2024 edition of the long-running Biomanufacturing World Summit series sit down and speak to the challenges and opportunities submitted by attendees of the event as they filled out their delegate profiles, weighted by popularity.
With topics ranging from leadership and culture, to talent attraction, development and retention, to supply chain issues, to commercializing CGTs and other ATMPs, change and disruption throughout the business landscape, and how to serve patients better now and in the future, this wide-ranging conversation sees five senior executives from five very different companies speaking to the issues, ideas, innovations, and inspirations that matter to all of them as guided by a moderator who knows the industry inside and out. It is a fantastic deep dive into what is most relevant to biopharma technical operations leaders today. Give it a listen!
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Sanat Chattopadhyay is responsible for the company’s (approx. $64 billion revenue) worldwide manufacturing and supply operations across a global network of sites for pharmaceuticals, vaccines, biologics and animal health products. Merck is known as MSD outside of the U.S. and Canada.
Sanat joined Merck in 2009 as Senior Vice President of Global Vaccines & Sterile Manufacturing Operations, spearheading the transformation of manufacturing and supply chain to grow and globalize its Vaccine business. Under Sanat’s leadership, Merck is currently executing a significant expansion of its biologics and vaccines manufacturing capacity with planned capital investments of more than $20 billion from 2020 through the end of 2024, to reach more patients around the globe.
Before joining Merck, he served as Senior Vice President, Technical Operations & Product Supply, for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Previously, he worked at Aventis and its predecessor companies as Senior Vice President, Industrial Operations, having served in many positions with increasing responsibilities for global supply chain, technology and manufacturing sites across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Sanat started his career with Hoechst Pharmaceuticals in 1983 and worked in many senior leadership assignments.
Sanat is a graduate in Chemical Engineering and holds a post-graduate degree in Industrial Engineering from India.
Outside of Merck, Sanat is a member of the Board of Directors of Ashland Inc.
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Jerry Murry, is Senior Vice President of Process Development at Amgen. Jerry started his career at Amgen in 2006 as Executive Director, Process Development within the Translational Sciences organization in R&D, and was promoted to Vice President, Process Development in 2010. In 2012, Jerry joined the Amgen Full Potential Transformation team as lead of the initiative “Transforming Process Development at Amgen”(AFP3).
In 2014, as part of the integration and reorganization of a new single, global process development team, Jerry was named the head of CMC Lifecycle management with responsibility for Operations Commercialization activities including regulatory filings and launches.
In 2016, Jerry became head of Drug Product Technologies with responsibility for all formulation and product and process development.
In 2018, Jerry was promoted to Senior Vice President Process Development at Amgen with responsibilities for all global Process Development activities.
Prior to joining Amgen, Jerry spent 8 years at Pfizer Central Research and 6 years at Merck Research Laboratories in Process Development.
Jerry earned BA/BS in Biology and Chemistry at Texas Lutheran University, a PhD in Chemistry from University of Utah and was an NIGMS NIH Fellow at Harvard University.
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Tongtong joined Genentech in 2018 as the head of Pharmaceutical Technical Development for US Biologics, and was named global head of Pharma Technical Development in April 2021. Prior to her role at Genentech, Tongtong held several scientific, managerial and strategic roles at Eli Lilly, with increasing responsibilities in the Bioproduct Research and Development organisation. Tongtong also worked at Corixa Corporation, a biotech company, where she gained valuable experiences both as a discovery scientist and as a CMC leader in support of therapeutic antibody and cancer vaccine platforms.
Tongtong received her B. Sc. in Molecular Biology from University of Science and Technology of China, a doctorate in Biology from Syracuse University, and completed her postdoctoral training in cell biology and yeast genetics at Cornell University.
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As Chief Global Supply Officer, Executive Vice President, Mike McDermott leads Pfizer’s internal and external manufacturing and supply chain activities.
Mike and the Pfizer Global Supply (PGS) team work to ensure uninterrupted supply for Pfizer’s entire product portfolio. This includes hundreds of medicines and vaccines provided to more than 185 countries worldwide. The PGS network, which includes more than 30 global manufacturing sites and approximately 31,000 colleagues, also works with more than 300 contract manufacturers to produce 50 billion doses of medicines and vaccines each year.
Mike has more than 30 years of industry experience, having joined Pfizer in 1989, by way of Wyeth, after starting as a Project Engineer in Pearl River, New York. He has held many roles, including Plant Manager and Operational Vice President of multiple divisions, including Consumer Healthcare, Biotechnology and Supply Chain, as well as roles in Finance and Marketing.
He was named President of PGS in 2018 and assumed his current role in January 2022.
A passionate advocate for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Mike has enacted impactful changes to increase diversity within PGS and was recently named Executive Sponsor of Pfizer’s Women’s Resource Group, the company’s largest Colleague Resource Group.
In addition to ambitious goals related to product supply at launch and manufacturing cycle times, Mike and PGS support Pfizer’s Net Zero strategy, which includes delivering Greenhouse Gas reductions.
Mike, his wife Katie and their five daughters – of whom he is incredibly proud – are committed to community engagement and social action. An active volunteer himself, Mike was a Board Member for People to People, a non-profit organization which helps under-served communities, for 10 years.
Mike holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Industrial Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), where he has been an adjunct professor. He was named an NJIT Distinguished Alumnus and is the recipient of the 2023 Newark College of Engineering Outstanding Alumnus Award.
Mike serves on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Manufacturers and is a member of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Forum.
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A live interview with the former Alpine Formula 1 CEO on Peak Performance Leadership
The 2024 TechOps Leadership Accelerator Program Highlights and Key Learnings
2025 TechOps Leadership Accelerator Program Launch
Tina Self is a dynamic leader with over 20 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, specializing in quality and manufacturing. Currently, she serves as the Senior Vice President of Global Biologics Manufacturing and Berkeley Site Head at Bayer. Tina has been with Bayer for over eight years, where she has held several key leadership roles, including Vice President of Manufacturing Operations and Vice President of Quality. She is recognized for her strategic oversight of manufacturing processes, commitment to quality assurance, and her ability to drive continuous improvement. Tina holds an MS in Biotechnology from The Johns Hopkins University and an MBA in International Business from Florida Atlantic University.
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Assessing Changes in the CMC Ecosystem: Are We Overbuilding Capacity Again?
Uniting for Success: Strategies to Prevent Fragmentation and Foster Collaboration in Biomanufacturing
Pioneering New Ventures: Reasons to Establish a New Company Today and Anticipating Future Growth in the Business Ecosystem
Evaluating Production Platforms for Emerging Modalities: Which Platforms Will Best Serve the Future of Medicine?
Navigating the Future of Existing Platforms: Efficiently Addressing Market Needs for Established Therapies such as mAbs, ADCs, and mRNA-based Treatments
