PharmaSource Podcast

“Projects quite often realize too late that their R&D process cannot just be copy-pasted from the lab into the manufacturing facility.”
Dr. Jenny Prange is Head of Project Management at the Regenerative Medicine Technologies Platform (RMTP) at Wyss Zurich, an accelerator embedded within ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. With a background spanning molecular biotechnology, a PhD in human physiology, and hands-on experience translating an advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP) from bench to clinical trial at University Hospital Zurich, Jenny brings both scientific depth and manufacturing expertise to early-stage biotech projects.
In this PharmaSource podcast episode, Jenny explains why the leap from academic research to GMP-ready clinical manufacturing is consistently underestimated, what it actually takes to build a robust CMC strategy, and how translational facilities like Wyss Zurich are filling a critical gap in the biotech development landscape.
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Andrzej Hoczyk, External Supply Operations (ESO) Head at Polpharma, presented the case for treating large-scale tech transfer as a managed program rather than a series of parallel projects at CDMO Live Europe 2026, drawing on a five-year, 21-product sterile portfolio migration across five contract manufacturing sites.
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"The quality of any relationship becomes most visible during times of challenge and pressure," says Frederik Krekeler.
Frederik Krekeler is Head of Procurement for Bayer's Consumer Health business in North America, leading sourcing strategy and supplier partnerships across a critical global network. With over 20 years of supply chain leadership spanning Europe, Latin America, and North America, he is known for building strategic CDMO relationships that deliver both resilience and commercial performance.
Ahead of CDMO Live Americas (20-21 October, Boston), Frederik shares the principles behind Bayer's approach to CDMO partnership management, covering the multi-year network reset of Project Martini, the innovation days and Negotiation Factory programs that keep suppliers engaged year-round. For anyone managing external manufacturing relationships in a rapidly evolving market, it's a practical and candid playbook.
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At CDMO Live Europe 2026, Dr. Adriana Kiedzierska-Mencfeld, Chief Executive Officer of Rezon Bio, drew on 11 years of leading operations at Polpharma Biologics to explain why biosimilar developers must address cost strategy in process development, long before any product reaches market.

“CMC was not usually a core part of the planning — it was more of an afterthought. Now that funding has tightened, that is changing.”
Siddhartha Jain, President of Shoolin Management Company, has spent two decades in biologics CMC across Novartis, Regeneron, Sanofi, and other major companies, contributing to the development and manufacturing of over 10 clinical and commercial molecules.
In this episode of the PharmaSource podcast, Sid shares why raw material variability remains one of the industry’s most underestimated risks, what separates a technically proficient CDMO from one that is merely experienced, and why digital CMC transformation fails when it ignores people and process.
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