2005 Report

The Crossroad of Biotechnology symposium celebrates 10 years of success

MONTREAL, February 14, 2005 - The 10th edition of the Crossroad of Biotechnology symposium, held February 9 and 10, 2005, was a resounding success. The event brought together over 135 organizations from 10 countries, including 100 private companies, to focus on the theme of "Biomanufacturing: innovative bioprocessing technologies and strategies".

Participants enjoyed the event's top-notch program, which included 24 speakers from Canada, the United States, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland. This key event was an initiative of the NRC's Biotechnology Research Institute (NRC BRI), which sought to bring together pharmaceutical and biotechnology company executives, managers working in research and development, and decision-makers from the financial and venture capital fields.

"We are very proud to have the support of a range of interesting and relevant speakers; it was their presence at the 10th edition of this event that cemented its success. After ten years of fine achievements, the event reflects Montreal's ever-growing expertise and draws attention to current themes like biomanufacturing," said Dr. Michel Desrochers, Director General of the NRC BRI.

The conference highlighted a number of trends

The trend is definitely toward biopharmaceutical drug production, and the industry has made significant progress, particularly with respect to upstream activities. This progress is evidenced by increasing demand for qualified employees and specialized biomanufacturing plants.

The race to be the first to market a new product requires increased investment in bioprocessing, which in turn leads to parallel product/process development and product marketing activities. There is a clear trend toward high-performance methods, which can only be realized by adopting a scale-down approach. The new Process Analytical Technology (PAT) procedure accelerates the transfer of technology toward industrial manufacturing. The approach uses bioprocessing monitoring methods that are critical to developing and validating reliable processes. Bioprocessing development and optimization is gaining in importance and has become a science in its own right.

With respect to regulations, there has been a gradual move away from the idea of products being defined by processes. With the advent of innovative analytical tools to better characterize products, the new trend is the reverse: the product will one day define the process. As a consequence, slightly different processes can be used to manufacture a single product, provided that the product's various versions are comparable to one another. This will also apply to the manufacturing of biogeneric products.

The Crossroad recognition dinner, held February 9 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, provided an opportunity to show that Montreal is one of the most dynamic biopharmaceutical clusters in North America. Alan De Sousa, mayor of the Saint-Laurent Borough and member of the City of Montreal's Executive Committee in charge of sustainable and economic development, emphasized that fact by pointing out that "28,125 people in the Greater Montreal area are employed in life sciences in 536 companies of various sizes and stages of development." In the coming years, Montreal's biomanufacturing expertise will make it a leader in the field.

"With the help of our partners, DSM Biologics and ProMetic Life Sciences, we will be able to meet the high expectations of participants by providing them with unparalleled opportunities for networking that will make Montreal a biomanufacturing powerhouse," concluded Dr. Desrochers.