My time working with the manufacturer of the AstraZeneca drug substance
Little did I know then what I know now
Background
In early 2013, I was contacted by the Technical Director of the UKs HealthTech and Medicines KTN (as it was then), now Health KTN.
He explained that no UK Life Sciences company had been successful in bid submissions to the first two rounds of the UKs Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI).
He went on to say that the Office for Life Sciences was not happy with it. The feedback they had received was that the bids were heavy on science, but showed little understanding of the manufacturing supply chain. That was not a surprise to me!
Given my background, he asked if I would be open to a 4 day consultancy project to find a UK based life sciences company that could fit the bill as a candidate to submit a bid for Round 3. The brief was to attend the launch meeting for Round 3 and 4, then use my extensive network in biopharmaceutical supply chain strategy and management to identify a target company, and sign them up.
I’ve never been one to turn down a challenge!
The launc…