Summit Recap: American Pharma Manufacturing & Outsourcing Summit

Shortly after the start of our Fall Events Season, the team headed to Boston to host our American Pharma Manufacturing & Outsourcing Summit!

The Summit was held from October 9th to 10th at the Westin Copley Place, a lively hotel in the heart of Boston.

Another One for the Books!

We are very pleased with the outcome of the Summit and want to extend our gratitude to everyone involved for making it so special. From the speaking sessions, 1-2-1 meetings, and networking receptions, to the roundtable discussions and empower hours, we can truly say that it was a fantastic industry gathering!

Below, we'll share a recap of the event highlights from our 7th Annual American Pharma Manufacturing & Outsourcing Summit. Whether you were in attendance or plan to attend the next ones, this recap will help you get a better feel of the overall experience on-site! 

Day 1 of the 7th American Pharma Manufacturing & Outsourcing Summit began with a warm welcome from our chair, Christine Enciso, VP, Development Services and Operational Excellence at Regeneron. Over in Room 2, introductions were made by emcee Eduardo A. Baez Toro, Adjunct Professor at USF and Former VP Operations, at Johnson & Johnson. Together, they presented opening remarks that created excitement for the on-site experience ahead.

Our opening keynote was led by Luis Roman, VP, Supply Chain, Small Molecules Global Platform at The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Luis shared his knowledge of digital supply chains, explaining the best ways to connect with external partners using enhanced performance monitoring and data exchange as a competitive advantage. 

Following the keynote, Larry Puderbach, AVP, Research Quality at Merck, led a plenary session analyzing the increasing importance of risk management in quality compliance processes. He discussed several topics, including examining the value of analytical tools in quality and compliance operations and strategies to improve data refreshes and overall data management to mitigate risk.

Shabbir Dahod, President and CEO at Tracelink, joined us once again to share how a single network connection can deliver real-time visibility, collaboration and intelligence. 

Next, we had a break from speaking sessions for refreshments, networking and pre-arranged 1-2-1 meetings, which was the time for everyone to make new industry connections and for attendees to discover new business solutions. The most interactive part of the day!

Day 1 continued with Sanjay Choubey, VP and Chief Information/Digital Officer, North America at Dr. Reddy's Labs, presenting a session on the digital future of pharma. He explained how to maximize efficiency and quality using MES software, including some of the limitations of the software and how to properly leverage it for the best outcomes.

At around noon, we had workshop sessions held by Amanda Bettman, General Manager, Supply Network Orchestration at TraceLink Inc., and Thomas Page, VP, Engineering and Asset Development FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. They each discussed strategies to improve the supply chain in the pharma manufacturing industry, including how to better connect with suppliers and how to scale up strategies from single-use into multiple 20K L stainless steel options. 

The Lunch & Learn Roundtable Discussions followed shortly after, which was a moderated discussion on pressing issues in the industry. The table featured executives from the following companies: Avéma Pharma Solutions, Coating Place, Boston Analytical, Curia, Alcami, Laurus Synthesis, Systech, and Menovo Pharma. 

Following the roundtables, Siegfried Hackl, SVP, Product Supply at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. took the stage to discuss maximizing CMO performance in the rare disease environment, including strategies for collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement. 

Our next round of workshops were hosted by Jeff Folks, Director, Business Development at Societal CDMO and Bala Samaga, Principal Solution Engineer at Oracle Life Sciences. Jeff discussed the process of building relationships in the pharmaceutical industry, while Bala shared his expertise on how to plan smarter and execute faster with cloud-based supply chain management.

The following plenary "Driving Digital Maturity: is Your Digital Strategy Different from that of your Competitor?" was hosted by Nikolai Makaranka, Director of Manufacturing Analytics at Bristol Myers Squibb. He shared the differences between what digital strategy is and is not, and how to make your digital strategy matter. 

Wrapping up an engaging Day 1, we were treated to an insightful panel discussion with some industry heavyweights. Christopher Milano, VP, Global Pharma Quality at Bristol Myers Squibb, Christian Zimmer, Head, Global Tech Transfers and Product Sourcing at Roche, Drew Johnston, VP Site Engineering at Bayer, and Siegfried Hackl, SVP, Product Supply at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. came together for a discussion about optimizing the tech transfer process in the pharmaceutical industry. 

Finally, we reached our closing keynote, where Drew Johnston, VP Site Engineering at Bayer discussed transforming infrastructure to enable specialty medicine business strategies now and moving into the future. 

Following the industry panel, our delegates, sponsors, and speakers enjoyed the Networking Drinks Reception! 

Day 2 of the American Pharma Manufacturing & Outsourcing Summit commenced with a Breakfast Brief led by Chris Spiak, Principal Consultant, Human Performance Business Area at CAI. He discussed how to use your workforce as a competitive advantage by building strategy from the ground up, while attendees enjoyed a delicious breakfast provided by the venue.

Following Chris, our co-chairs Eduardo A. Baez Toro and Christine Enciso provided their opening remarks, which Eduardo followed with his very own keynote about end-to-end supply chains. His session covered all things from implementing Lean Thinking across the entire supply chain, to strategies for ensuring operational excellence within external manufacturing sites. 

Imara Charles, VP, Process and Digital Excellence, Global Supply Chain at Bristol Myers Squibb, presented a plenary on embracing the digital era in the pharmaceutical industry, including multiple digital solutions.  

Shortly after the plenary, Day 2 featured a workshop discussing using MES to advance digital plant maturity presented by Matthew Weaver, Global Technical Director at Rockwell Automation.

Around midday, Henrik Friese, Corporate VP, Quality Intelligence and Inspections at Novo Nordisk took the stage for his session titled "Gearing up for QMM Reporting", sharing what QMM is and the best quality practices that direct an organization towards continuous improvement and supply chain resiliency. 

Our Lunch & Learn Roundtable Discussions features five incredible sessions from the following industry leaders: Peter Eskander, Director, Supply Chain Digital Transformation at Amgen, Arthur L Edge III, Director, Global Supply and Strategy at AstraZeneca, Aaron Snyder, VP, Quality Assurance at Allotex, and lastly, Subba Reddy Inta, VP and Head, Quality at Dr. Reddy's Labs.

The final plenary of the Summit featured Rakhi Agarwal, VP Global Head of Supplier Diversity at Sanofi, as she shared her secret to successful supplier relationship management through creating a strong procurement network. 

At long last, it was time for the Summit to come to an end. But not before Jill Zunshine, SVP, Head of Global Real Estate, Facilities and Procurement at Takeda presented her closing keynote on supporting supply chain resiliency in an uncertain world. 

A major highlight of the day belongs to the two inspiring panels. 

The Women in Leadership Panel, featuring Karin Ann Payne, VP, Corporate Quality at Bristol Myers Squibb, Leigh Grygotis Cherry, VP, Supply Chain, Business Development at Johnson & Johnson, Valerie Wolfe, VP, Quality Operations External Supply at Pfizer, and Tiffany Thiel, AVP, Process Development at Amgen shone a light on female leadership in the pharmaceutical manufacturing & outsourcing industry. 

The inspiring panelists shared some of the things they've learned in their career that have helped them get to where they are today, while discussing the most significant barrier they have faced to date as a leader. They also shared their stories of resiliency, explaining how they have adapted their leadership approaches in times of disruption and uncertainty. Finally, the women shared the best piece of advice they've received in their career journeys and what they would say to the next generation of leaders to help them feel empowered and ready to lead. 

Another impactful panel, the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Panel, featured Imara Charles, VP, Process and Digital Excellence, Global Supply Chain at Bristol Myers Squibb, Sylvie Rancon, SVP, Human Resources Global Supply Chain at GSK, Rakhi Agarwal, VP Global Head of Supplier Diversity at Sanofi, Asha Hope, VP, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Bayer and our co-chair Eduardo A. Baez Toro.

This panel spoke to the dynamic landscape of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the pharmaceutical industry. Speaking to their individual experiences, they shared how their organizations build diversity and inclusion into its structure, and how this has helped them grow into the strong leaders they are today. To conclude, the panelists shared pieces of advice with leaders, giving them concrete action steps to drive diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in their organization to drive notable change going forward.

To show our appreciation for the active engagement of our attendees, we’re thrilled to announce our prize winners who have added an extra layer of excitement to our event. A huge congratulations to Scott Duncan from Gates MRI who was selected as the survey winner, and Gregory Chua from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, as the networking champion. 

We are thrilled at the success of the American Pharma Manufacturing & Outsourcing Summit, thanks to all the people mentioned above, as well as every delegate and sponsor company who helped make the Summit what it was. These Summits would truly not be possible without the support and enthusiasm from everyone in attendance. We hope the Summit left as much of a lasting effect on you as it did on us. And if you were not in attendance but want to come next year, feel free to express your interest. It is never too early!

If you're curious about what's next, be sure to check out our Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 events at https://generisgp.com/events/.

“Very good and insightful! Also, the sponsors fit exactly with the aim of the conference as they can provide solutions to small and big pharmaceutical, biologics and vaccine organizations..”

- Pankaj Bavaskar , Associate Director Supply Chain and Procurement at HilleVax

“Being able to hear how industry leaders are driving innovation—and the future of the industry—provided countless insights that I’ll take back to my organization to influence our strategic corporate objectives!”

- Geneva Cooper, Associate Director, QMS at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc

“Very nicely organized. Great speakers with lot of experience and knowledge. Logistics were impeccable!”

- Eduardo Báez Toro, Former VP of Supply Chain at Johnson & Johnson, Professor @ University of South Florida

"Enjoyable. Well-planned plenary lectures with natural flow into group discussions and receptions.”

- Charles Van Kirk , Senior Director Of Manufacturing Analytical Development at Lantheus Medical Imaging

“Overall great experience for my first time at this summit. Great speakers from various backgrounds and expertise. It was also really nice to meet 1:1 with a lot of the sponsors/vendors..”

- Andrew Giansiracusa, Senior Manager, GMP QA at Scholar Rock

“Very satisfied with the networking opportunities and targeted content themes!”

- Steven Cray, Director External Supply Management - API at Takeda Pharmaceuticals

“Very productive - made contacts with new potential vendors!”

- Richard Holl, Sr. Director of Development Operations at Lupin

Learn more about our upcoming summits and secure your spot today:

• 5th American Food Manufacturing Summit | November 14-15, 2023
• 9th American Aerospace & Defense Summit | December 4-5, 2023
• ... and Spring 2024 events!

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