Off Script: A Pharma Manufacturing Podcast

Amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, regional manufacturing initiatives, and evolving supply chain risks reshaping the pharmaceutical industry, manufacturers are rethinking how biologics are produced and delivered around the world. Rather than relying on centralized production models, many organizations are expanding regional manufacturing footprints and developing more integrated production networks designed to improve resilience, reduce operational risk, and support long-term supply continuity. 

In this episode of Off Script, we spoke with Jeff Mason, VP and head of the New Jersey Sales Office at Samsung Biologics, about how CDMOs are adapting to this changing landscape. The discussion follows Samsung Biologics establishing its first U.S. manufacturing presence through the acquisition of GSK's biologics facility in Rockville, Maryland, reflecting the broader industry shift toward regional manufacturing capacity.

The conversation explores the growing importance of regional manufacturing strategies, why customers are increasingly seeking manufacturing redundancy from the outset of commercialization, how vertically integrated service models can simplify complex supply chains, and what the next generation of global manufacturing ecosystems could look like as companies balance efficiency with resilience.

As biopharma pipelines become more complex and market conditions continue to evolve, manufacturers are rethinking how they scale capacity, deploy capital, and build supply chains. The industry’s focus is increasingly shifting toward developing the flexibility, resilience, and specialized capabilities needed to support rapidly evolving therapeutic modalities. At the same time, regionalization efforts, supply chain pressures, and changing sponsor expectations are prompting both CDMOs and drug developers to reassess long-term manufacturing strategies.

In this episode of Off Script, we spoke with Sebastián Arana, executive vice president and global head of process solutions at MilliporeSigma, about the forces reshaping the biopharma CDMO landscape. The conversation explores the industry’s shift from a capacity-driven market to a capability-driven one, how sponsors’ expectations around speed and flexibility are changing manufacturing partnerships, and why process characterization, tech transfer, and supply chain coordination remain persistent scaling challenges. Arana also discusses the growing trend toward retrofitting existing facilities for multi-modality production, the rise of region-for-region manufacturing strategies, and more.

Interest in macrocyclic peptides (MCPs) continues to grow, which means manufacturers are facing mounting pressure to develop production methods capable of supporting commercial-scale demand of these molecules. While they offer a unique combination of potency, selectivity, and drug-like properties, the structural complexity of MCPs has historically made them difficult and costly to manufacture using traditional peptide synthesis techniques. As a result, new manufacturing approaches are emerging that aim to improve efficiency, scalability, and sustainability while expanding access to this promising class of therapeutics.

In this episode of Off Script, we spoke with David Thaisrivongs, executive director, head of biocatalysis at Merck, about research recently published in Science detailing a biocatalytic manufacturing process for enlicitide, an investigational oral macrocyclic peptide designed to lower LDL cholesterol. The conversation explores the limitations of conventional solid-phase peptide synthesis, how Merck leveraged enzyme-driven manufacturing and crystallization strategies to significantly reduce process complexity, and why minimizing chromatography can be critical for commercial-scale peptide production. He also discussed the broader implications of biocatalysis for manufacturing increasingly complex therapeutic modalities and how the technology could help shape the future of pharmaceutical production.

As peptide therapeutics become larger, more complex, and increasingly purity-sensitive, manufacturers are confronting a new layer of execution challenges. Long-chain peptides introduce compounding scale-up inefficiencies, increasingly fragile purification requirements, and impurity profiles that become more difficult to characterize and control at commercial scale. At the same time, growing dependence on specialized amino acids, tightly specified reagents, and globally distributed supply chains are forcing developers and CDMOs to think more strategically about how process design decisions made early in development can ultimately determine long-term manufacturability and program risk.

In this episode of Off Script, we continued our conversation with Dr. Sharadsrikar Venkatesan Kotturi, chief scientific officer at Neuland Laboratories, about the operational and technical realities shaping modern peptide manufacturing. The discussion explores why long-chain and high-purity peptides become increasingly difficult to scale reproducibly, how aggregation, impurity control, and analytical sensitivity compound across larger sequences, and why process robustness ultimately determines whether peptide programs can succeed commercially. We also examine the growing intersection between process design and supply chain resilience, including how early route selection decisions can amplify sourcing risk for protected amino acids and specialized reagents.

Peptide pipelines continue to expand globally, and pharmaceutical companies are increasingly turning to CDMOs earlier in the development lifecycle to help manage growing technical and operational complexity. Outsourcing partners are being leaned on to support process development, analytical strategy, scale-up, and regulatory readiness from the earliest stages of a program. At the same time, rising demand for peptide therapeutics is placing new pressure on manufacturing capacity, raw material availability, and technical expertise across the industry.

 

In this episode of Off Script, we spoke with Dr. Sharadsrikar Venkatesan Kotturi, chief scientific officer at Neuland Laboratories, about how peptide development is reshaping relationships between sponsors and CDMOs. The conversation explores why pharmaceutical companies are engaging outsourcing partners earlier in the process, the growing execution challenges associated with peptide scale-up and impurity control, and how analytical complexity, raw material sourcing, and manufacturing scalability increasingly intersect across peptide programs. Kotturi also discusses the strain these shifting expectations are placing on both sponsors and service providers, along with the operational realities of supporting early-stage peptide development.

As municipal water utilities increasingly shift from free chlorine to chloramine disinfection strategies, pharmaceutical manufacturers are facing new challenges in maintaining consistent, high-purity water systems. While chloramines provide utilities with longer-lasting residual disinfection and reduced formation of regulated byproducts, they also introduce operational risks inside pharmaceutical facilities. As a result, manufacturers are reassessing traditional chloramine removal approaches and exploring more proactive treatment strategies that improve resiliency, monitoring, and long-term operational efficiency.

 

In this episode of Off Script, sponsored by Trojan Technologies, we spoke with Wayne Lem, global applications manager at Trojan Technologies, about the evolving role of UV technology in pharmaceutical water treatment systems. The conversation explores how chloramine shifts at the municipal level are impacting pharmaceutical manufacturing operations, the limitations of traditional approaches like catalytic carbon and reducing chemicals, and how UV-based chloramine destruction can help facilities improve process reliability while reducing maintenance and chemical dependency. Lem also discusses the operational and economic considerations behind UV adoption, the importance of continuous monitoring and validation in regulated environments, and why hybrid, multi-barrier treatment strategies are becoming increasingly important as manufacturers modernize water infrastructure.

Amid increasing complexity in the drug development landscape, CDMOs are exploring new ways to streamline the path from early-stage formulation through commercial manufacturing. Rather than operating in isolated segments of the development lifecycle, some outsourcing partners are beginning to form more integrated collaborations designed to reduce handoffs, improve coordination, and simplify the client experience across multiple stages of manufacturing.

In this episode of Off Script, we spoke with David Leroux-Petersen, CEO of Corealis Pharma, and Jean-Baptiste (JB) Agnus, CCO of the CDMO division at Bora Pharmaceuticals, about the emerging role of CDMO-to-CDMO collaboration through the lens of a new partnership between their companies. The conversation explores how integrated outsourcing models can help reduce development risk and accelerate timelines, what operational alignment looks like across organizations with complementary capabilities, and why client-centricity, governance, and transparent communication are essential in complex manufacturing partnerships.

As pharmaceutical manufacturers push forward with massive capital expansion plans, challenges go beyond simply breaking ground on new facilities—it’s also managing the growing complexity, uncertainty, and resource strain that come with executing mega-projects. Persistent supply chain disruption, extended equipment lead times, rising material costs, and workforce constraints are forcing companies to rethink how they plan, govern, and prioritize capital investments in an increasingly volatile environment. 

In this episode of Off Script, we continued our conversation with Steve Cabano, president of Pathfinder, and Mark Christopher, vice president and head of the company’s pharmaceutical division, about the operational realities shaping large-scale pharmaceutical construction projects today. Pathfinder is a project management consulting firm. The discussion explores how post-pandemic supply chain instability and tariff uncertainty are impacting procurement strategies, scheduling assumptions, and project economics, with lead times for critical equipment stretching far beyond historical norms. We also examine the growing importance of portfolio-level governance as companies attempt to manage dozens of overlapping billion-dollar initiatives while maintaining existing operations, avoiding internal resource conflicts, and preparing for a future shaped by modularization, robotics, and AI-enabled project delivery.

Rising capital investment in pharmaceutical manufacturing is pushing projects to unprecedented scale, but execution strategies haven’t fully kept pace. As companies commit billions to new facilities they’re encountering a new set of challenges around planning, coordination, and risk management. What worked for smaller, site-based upgrades is insufficient for multibillion-dollar builds involving thousands of stakeholders, constrained resources, and increasingly complex regional dynamics.

In this episode of Off Script, we spoke with Pathfinder President Steve Cabano and Mark Christopher, vice president and head of the company's pharmaceutical division, about what it takes to successfully deliver mega-scale capital projects in today’s environment. Pathfinder is a project management consulting firm. The conversation explores how the industry’s shift back toward large-scale North American manufacturing is exposing gaps in project controls, contracting strategies, and organizational readiness. They discuss the growing importance of early-stage planning, clearer decision ownership, and construction-driven execution models, as well as how labor competition, permitting hurdles, utility constraints, and global procurement risks are reshaping timelines and cost structures.

Ever since the revised Annex 1 was published, drug makers have been navigating a broader transformation of sterile manufacturing that extends beyond compliance. Contamination control, in turn, is becoming a more proactive, data-driven, and highly collaborative model, one that emphasizes continuous improvement, global alignment, and deeper integration across the supply chain. While the regulation itself builds on decades of precedent, its latest iteration is accelerating expectations around risk management, documentation, and end-to-end control strategies.

In this episode of Off Script, we spoke with Haley Johnson, senior manager of product management, and Bill Matakas, vice president of business transformation at West Pharmaceutical Services, about how Annex 1 is reshaping sterile manufacturing operations and supplier relationships. The conversation explores the industry’s shift from reactive remediation to proactive risk prevention, the growing importance of contamination control strategies as living systems, and how inspectors are increasingly focused on measurable, year-over-year improvement.