(249a) Lessons from a Life in Biopharma

The application of biochemical engineering to the development of biopharmaceuticals may classically be viewed as adherence to principles of thermodynamics, reaction engineering, transport, biology, biochemistry, and myriad smaller subjects; there are many lessons to be gleaned from these applications. In the setting of a corporate enterprise, other factors come into play, in particular philosophies of engineering and the need for teams to accomplish the work, as governed by more senior engineers and non-engineers. In this talk I will recap my journey through the development of many products and technologies for vaccines and biologicals, illustrating not only the ‘what’ was accomplished, but also the ‘why’ it was done in the way it was. This will perhaps give some lessons for the future of a most interesting new chapter of creating “Bugs as Drugs”, an emerging therapeutic modality for treatment of diseases that are caused by or exacerbated by the bacteria inhabiting the human body.