CPHI & CPHI Pharma Evolution Add Stellar Names to Expert Industry Panel

CPHI Worldwide, organized by UBM Live, and CPHI Pharma Evolution have announced its full expert industry panel list ahead of the publication of a forward looking annual report (due out in September) examining future contingencies for the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, the panel has also contributed to the first CPHI Pharma Evolution monthly report due out imminently [within the next week] examining the current trends in ‘formulation and ingredients’, such as issues relating to growth of the market, development of tablets, QbD, PAT, bioavailability, outsourcing, dissolution and stability.

Each panel member has been individually chosen following an exhaustive selection process involving industry peers and journalists to ensure that the panel has the appropriate expertise to independently and holistically examine global trends. In total, CPHI now has 13 world renowned experts, covering the entire pharmaceutical supply chain from R&D through to finished products, regulatory requirements and economic implications.

The new panel members will provide a depth of experience and features experts from some of most innovative players in the pharmaceutical sector, including pioneers such as Fujifilm Diosynth and Piramal.

Featured on the panel will be Piramal’s pharma sector lead — spanning three divisions Pharma Solutions, Critical Care and Lab Diagnostics — Vijay Shah who has over two decades of experience and has overseen many business transformations. The Indian giant Piramal is transitioning from its traditional roots in contract and generics manufacturing towards the development of new chemical entities. This step change approach has marked a seismic shift from West to East, as increasingly companies such as Piramal start to challenge the traditional big pharma developers of drugs, and crucially, begin to sell IP protected products into western markets. Vijay will leverage his perspectives on breaking through the patent cliff and the development of Antibody Drug Conjugates.

Joining Mr Shah will be PWC’s Director of healthcare practice, Sam Venugopal who has over 15-years’ experience across biotechnology and pharmaceuticals with expertise that span quality systems, regulatory compliance and supply chain activities, including working with the FDA on improving its own quality systems.

Mark Carver, Senior Vice President, Research, Development & Innovation at Fujifilm Diosynth also joins the panel and will bring a wealth of experience in the development of innovative technologies particularly in relation to scalable and validated manufacturing processes. His industry acumen and knowledge spans 20 years of work on recombinant protein products based on microbial expression in bacterial, yeast and filamentous fungal systems.

Another expert across R&D and drug manufacturing, Prabir Basu, formerly of the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education (NIPTE), will direct the panel’s attention towards how the industry can look to increase innovation. As the development of new compounds come to market it is important that development and manufacturing techniques keep pace with the changing landscape of drug targets. He has spent the last 10-years heading the NIPTE and is a renowned expert in looking at the future challenges in drug manufacturing and R&D.

Secretary-General of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance and an expert on the Indian and worldwide regulatory landscape, Dilip Shah will provide insights into the future landscape and implications for pharmaceutical companies of potential changes. His experience spans over 45-years and through his consultancy practice (Vision) he works with some of the world’s leading companies looking at strategic planning.

Emil Ciurczak provides an extensive range of pharmaceutical acumen across spectroscopy, PAT and QbD, having introduced NIR Spectroscopy consulting and written over 200 technical papers. He has also previously been a member of FDA’s PAT committee and is currently president of Doramxx Consulting. The panel will be completed by William Botha, a respected trainer and mentor in manufacturing. He is fluent in FDA regulations, including GDP and GMP and has taught an aseptic processing course for PDA and a Quality Systems course for AAMI.

For the duration of 2013  members of the panel will take part in CPHI short monthly reports – entitled ‘CPHI Pharma insight series’ – examining topical issues across a total of eight broad themes: Drug Delivery; Formulation & Ingredients; R&D; Manufacturing; Packaging & Distribution; Regulatory Compliance; Contract Services & Supply Chain Management; and QA/QC.

The ultimate goal of the panel’s inception is to utilise their respective areas of expertise to scrutinize how the industry will change across the coming 5-10 years in an annual report. The report will feature a mixture of primary industry data (industry surveys) and the collection of in depth essays from each panel member- with experts given carte blanche to prophesize how the industry will look and operate in the future from both an economic and practical perspective.

“Our panel provides a tremendous picture of all areas of the pharmaceutical value chain and, just as importantly, from different global perspectives. Collectively, our panel has hundreds of years of senior level expertise and they have been responsible for some of the industry’s most innovative development and changes over the last 30 years. This knowledge gives them the depth of understanding that allows them provide an unrivalled picture of how the industry is predicted to change”, commented Chris Kilbee, Brand Director, Pharma at CPHI.