Sue-Behrens_in-lab

BIO Digital’s Manufacturing Panel to Feature KGI’s Sue Behrens

The BIO International Convention is transitioning to a virtual format, and this year’s BIO Digital event will include Sue Behrens of Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) as a panelist for a discussion of biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

The panel, which will start at 4:30 p.m. Pacific on Monday, June 8, is titled “Discover/Develop: But How Will you Manufacture Your Therapeutic?”

The explosive growth in cell therapies—and even gene therapies—present a new world of technical difficulties in validating reproducible methods of manufacturing. To talk about manufacturing challenges in biopharmaceutical R&D, Biomedical Manufacturing Network Director Gregory Theyel will serve as moderator for the four panelists:

  • Sue Behrens, KGI George B. and Joy Rathmann Professor in Bioprocessing and Director, Amgen Bioprocessing Center
  • John Erickson, NIIMBL Chief Technology Officer
  • Eric Fallon, Genentech Global Head of Manufacturing Science and Technology, Drug Substance
  • Mo Heidaran, Parexel International Vice President Technical, Regulatory and Technical CMC Consulting Cell, Gene Therapy and Tissue Engineering

Behrens joined KGI in July 2019 and continues to expand the reach and impact of KGI’s bioprocessing programs. In January 2020, Behrens served as a speaker at the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) Facilities of the Future Conference on Jan. 30 in San Francisco.

In addition to the biopharmaceutical manufacturing panel, this year’s BIO Digital event will also include a three-part plenary session titled “A Way Forward: Winning the War on COVID through Vaccines.” Global thought leaders will participate in a discussion of the novel science of COVID-19 vaccines, the long-term solution for vaccine availability, and the complex and swift moving landscape of the global pandemic.

Anthony Fauci, MD, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Moncef Slaoui, PhD, Head of U.S. Operation Warp Speed, will be featured in this special session on Tuesday, June 9.

To learn more about BIO Digital and to register, visit bio.org/events/bio-digital.