Sean Smith, Vice President and Head of Quality at KSQ Therapeutics, shares his journey from working in big biotech to transitioning into small biotech and the challenges and opportunities that come with it. He emphasizes the importance of being willing to challenge the status quo, having an openness to learning, and practicing empathy as a quality leader. Smith also discusses the need for quality to be seen as an asset and the importance of building empowered and diverse teams. He...

In today's episode, I'm joined by Andrea Goddard, former Chief Quality Officer at Genentech. Andrea shares her career journey and insights into quality leadership. She started in biotech manufacturing and transitioned into quality after a conversation with her boss! Andrea emphasizes the importance of building strong relationships between quality and other departments within an organization. She discusses the challenges and rewards of working in a global role, including managing different...

In today's episode, we're joined by Gary Barrera, Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory at Vera Therapeutics. Gary shares that his love for reading and learning, as well as his curiosity about how things work, led him to pursue a career in science. He started in manufacturing and eventually moved into quality, where he discovered his passion for ensuring the reliability and safety of products. We talk about the benefits of gaining exposure to different areas of an organization and...

In today's episode I was joined by Andrew Cieri, Senior Director of Quality for Regeneron's newly acquired cell therapy unit. Regeneron are launching a new cell therapy unit after the acquisition of the pipeline and commercialisation rights to 2seventy products and Andrew has been tasked with launching this unit! I wanted to talk with Andrew to learn about his journey and how he's gone developing himself - both as a quality professional and leader. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and...

In today's episode I'm joined by Laura Malagon, VP Quality and Regulatory at Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing. Laurie (as she is known as to those close to her) recently relocated from Miami to Michigan to lead the quality organisation at GRAM. She's had a fantastic journey in quality, starting her career washing glass-wear in a laboratory! We talk about the following: Relocating from Miami to Michigan this year for a new VP role.Laurie's journey into science and quality. Working with...

In today's episode I was joined by James Myers, VP Quality at Spyre Therapeutics. I wanted to speak with James about his journey, starting in GCP focussed roles and learn how he transitioned into all encompassing GxP position. As a result James has gained exposure across GCP and GMP and developed himself as a true GxP quality professional. We discuss the following: Transitioning from GCP to GMP.Industry Trends.Gaining GMP Experience.Advancing to VP from director.Building a Team and Pilot...

Today I'm joined by Kelly O'Hare, current Vice President, Head of Quality at enGene, an innovative biotech developing a very exciting non-viral gene therapy focussed on bladder cancer. Kelly shares her journey in quality, discussing her transition from a technical writer to a quality leader. We talk about the importance of quality leaders being able to articulate the value of quality to their organizations. Her insights provide valuable lessons for aspiring quality professionals and...

In today's episode I was joined by Markus Gruell, SVP Quality at Autolus Therapeutics, a late stage clinical development CAR-T cell therapy company headquartered in the UK. Marcus, shares his journey in the industry and his role as VP of Quality at Autolus. We talk about his transition into the cell and gene therapy field and the challenges and opportunities it presents and move into his experience at Autolus, where he started as an associate director and worked his way up to SVP of Quality. ...

Today I spoke with Sonia Razzetti, SVP of Quality at Disc Medicine, a clinical stage biotech focussed on developing therapies in the haematology space. Sonia shares her journey in quality and discusses the challenges she faced, including finding her voice in leadership meetings and aligning quality objectives with business priorities. Sonia is really open about the failures she has had to overcome which have helped her develop her career and others. Takeaways Finding your voice in leadership...

We are back for Season Two of Lets Talk Quality! This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Irving Ford, VP of Quality at Adaptimmune Therapeutics. Irving has been through the commercialisation of four cell therapy products, most recently leading Adaptimmune through the BLA and FDA approval of their engineered T cell for solid tumour, Tecelra. Irving talks about his journey from starting out his career as a Microbiologist before making his transition into the pharmaceutical industry....

Joe Franchetti, President of the Society of Quality Assurance (SQA), shares his vision for the SQA and the wider quality assurance industry, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and expanding relationships with international quality colleagues and regulators. Joe highlights the need to attract and educate younger professionals about the field of quality assurance. He discusses the role of technology, including AI and blockchain, the challenges and opportunities they present, as well as...

This is very special episode. I was joined by Laurie Adami, a financial services exec who was forced to give up her career after a cancer diagnosis in 2006. After a 12 year battle fighting follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and six lines of therapy, Laurie received a call from her oncologist, informing her about a new therapy called CAR-T, that was being developed by Kite Pharma. They were opening a clinical trial at UCLA with five patients. Laurie was to be patient number one. One month after...

In this conversation, Kimberly Wallbank, a quality systems consultant in the pharma & biotech industry, shares her insights and experiences in the world of contracting. She discusses the changes in the contracting market, the types of projects she takes on, and the shift towards remote and on-site work. Kimberly also provides advice on building a network and finding contracts, including the importance of volunteering and referrals. She emphasizes the need for flexibility, problem-solving...

This week I speak with Stan Russell, who explains how quality leaders can create a function that adds true value to an organisation. Stan provides practical advice for leaders to change perceptions and measure the strength of a quality culture. He also shares his leadership style and the importance of storytelling and analogies in articulating quality to the organisation, which can result in a function that is seen as truly valuable. We discuss the following: What is a 'Quality Culture' and...

This week I was joined by Vaishali Shukla, VP of Global Quality Manufacturing at Kite Pharma. "Act locally but think globally”. This is the mindset that Vaishali has helped instil in her role to help harmonize processes, engage the global network, and create a 'one team' quality approach. Vaishali talks us through her journey in quality and some of the challenges of leading a global quality operation of 500+ people, and the key aspects which have helped her to get to where she is now. We...

As a biotech professional, how do you know that the questions you ask 'experts' are accurate? Is the answer based on explicit regulations? Or is it based on personal opinion, which has been formed by historical organisational practise? In this episode, Greg Furrow, Chief Quality Officer of Mustang Bio, discusses his mission to raise awareness around the importance of industry 'experts' providing accurate and evidence-based information, rather than relying solely on personal experience or...

This is a story about the journey of commercialization for BMS' first cell therapies approved for the treatment of blood cancer. Jason 'Jake' Treese, played a critical role in the development, approval and commercialization of Abecma and Breyanzi; two cell therapies which have now treated 4,700 patients in clinical and commercial settings - patients that are often on their last line of treatment, and last hope of a successful treatment. We discuss leading the quality function in CAR-T cell...

This week on the podcast I speak with Emily English, VP of Quality at Cartesian Therapeutics. Cartesian is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing RNA cell therapies designed to benefit the wide range of patients with cancer, autoimmune diseases, and respiratory diseases. We discussed RNA cell therapy and how Cartesian are bringing forward their mission of developing safer cell therapies for patients with autoimmune diseases. We talk about the following in detail: The work...

The volume of data integrity violations cited in FDA warning letters has risen alarmingly over the last decade. Several examples of poor data integrity practises have demonstrated the consequences it can have on a biotech's future, particularly when is occurs at an early stage of development. In episode 11 of Let's Talk Quality, I was joined by Brian Furmanski, Chief Regulatory Officer for Kriya Therapeutics. Brian has a large remit, covering regulatory, quality and clinical, and is...

This week I spoke with Jacob Patterson, VP quality for a clinical stage biotech in Rhode Island. Jacob, by his own admission, has had to continuously adapt, learn and be flexible in his approach to quality leadership. We had a great conversation about what skills the quality industry will demand in the next 10-20 years. We spoke about what Jacob thinks quality professionals should be doing now, from both a technical skills and a leadership perspective to help grow their career, develop...

This week, we spoke with Brian Nunnally, and discussed some of the challenges that Brian faced throughout his journey to where he is now, Global Head of QC at CSL. Brian is hugely passionate and is driven by being a part of and leading the best quality control function in the world. What I liked about this conversation was Brian's honest assessment of his struggles and frustrations that many people will be going through right now. We spoke about why lateral moves and working in different...

This week I was joined by Peggy Owens, Head of Quality at Kincell Bio, a CDMO operating in early phase cell therapy. Peggy has an extensive background in cell therapy, having worked on both the CDMO and sponsor side. We had a great discussion about the challenges of building and leading a quality function in an area of medicine which is constantly evolving. We discussed the following: The challenges of overseeing quality at a CDMO in the CGT spaceHow to develop a team that can operate in...

On this weeks show, I speak with John McKay, a well respected, well loved and highly seasoned quality assurance leader in pharma and biotech across clinical development and commercial manufacturing. John breaks down four key pillars that he believes are critical for achieving quality assurance excellence and developing world-class quality functions. We discuss the following: What it takes to be a great quality assurance leaderJohn's experience of being trained by Dr W. Edwards DemingThe...

Welcome to episode 6 of Let's Talk Quality. I was joined by Greg Whitehead. Greg is Head of Quality at Editas Medicine and has been working in biotech for 30 years, with a particular focus on cell and gene therapy. Greg has a vision to leave the quality assurance industry in a better place than when he started in the industry. We spoke about why this is important to him and what he is doing to help bring this vision to life. We spoke about the following: How not many people set out to have...