Looking Back And Moving Forward In The Fight Against SARS-CoV-2

By Eric S. Langer, Managing Partner, BioPlan Associates, Inc., Christopher Murphy, Vice President/General Manager, Viral Vector/Pharma Services, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Brandon Pence, Vice President/General Manager, Purification and Pharma Analytics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Chris Williams, Vice President/General Manager, Single-Use Technologies, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Kate Torchilin, Vice President/General Manager, Cell Culture and Cell Therapy, Thermo Fisher Scientific

The unprecedented global crisis brought on by SARS-CoV-2 has affected all aspects of life and business. This includes the pharmaceutical industry, where existing trends that were driving incremental changes prior to the pandemic have been accelerated to meet the demand for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine production and delivery. A recent study by BioPlan Associates takes a closer look at the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on bioprocessing, specifically the near- and long-term changes resulting from the unexpected demand on the industry’s resources.

With so many lessons learned from these changes, the industry has an opportunity to apply them going forward so that we can move toward a future where flexibility and adaptability forge a path toward consistent and reliable supply in a post–SARS-CoV-2 environment. In a recent roundtable discussion conducted by Life Science Connect, a panel of experts offered their insight on what challenges they have seen come to the forefront during this crisis and what they believe we can learn from them going forward.