As we look back on all that the life science industry accomplished in 2022, it’s impossible not to be excited about what’s to come. It was a year when the best and brightest joined forces, embracing the power of collaboration, fostering diversity, protecting our planet, and putting patients first to advance and accelerate therapeutics.
We are proud to be part of a community that’s pushing past boundaries to transform human health. Here are just some of the reasons this year’s journey from discovery to delivery is set to be one for the books.
1. Organizations came together to help bring life-changing therapies closer to patients.
Fueled by a spirit of collaboration, 2022 delivered key advances in medical research and a robust clinical pipeline of groundbreaking therapies.
This year, we donated manufacturing equipment to n-Lorem in support of the nonprofit organization’s mission to create cutting-edge antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies for patients suffering from very rare diseases.
With a goal of improving cell therapy accessibility and affordability, Caring Cross joined forces with Cytiva to develop a “place-of-care” CAR T cell therapy manufacturing model.
2022 also marked our sixth year supporting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) in their efforts to support promising breast cancer research and end metastatic breast cancer.
2. Discovery makers charted new paths.
From the earliest stages of research through to commercialization, scientific innovation is driving new and creative ways of delivering therapies to patients. In our Discovery Makers series, we highlighted the work of some of 2022’s industry trailblazers.
Sebastian Falk, a structural biologist, aims to help fulfill the goal of developing synthetic cells and remains committed to mentoring future generations of scientists along the way.
Mustapha Bittaye, now a postdoctoral researcher, traveled from The Gambia to the UK for education that has enabled him to make amazing contributions to global human health, like helping to create the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
3. Biopharma prepared for mRNA’s broader potential following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic highlighted mRNA’s wide-reaching, real-world therapeutic potential for the first time. Following the successful rollout of mRNA vaccines in 2020 and 2021, the biopharma industry and researchers were able to shift away from SARS-CoV-2 in 2022 and start reexamining the molecule’s potential role in treating complex diseases, such as cancer.
Flexible, modular, automated, and closed manufacturing solutions are helping vaccine and therapeutic developers realize mRNA’s promise, as can be seen with Arranta’s end-to-end mRNA offering announced in January of 2022.
4. Cell therapies continued to be a ray of hope in the fight against cancer.
In May of 2022, Emily Whitehead celebrated 10 years cancer free after being the first pediatric patient to receive CAR T cell therapy for leukemia.
Cytiva and Bayer teamed up to solve the persistent bottlenecks encountered in CAR T cell therapy production, working to develop a platform to manufacture large batches of allogeneic cell therapies.
5. Manufacturers expanded their capacity and prioritized agility, flexibility, and speed.
This year, manufacturers and CDMOs like BioNova Scientific continued to apply lessons from COVID and embraced agility and flexibility to scale capacity, decrease timelines, and get products to the market, and patients, faster.
At Cytiva, when countries reported only being able to meet 74% of domestic manufacturing needs, we expanded manufacturing in Grens, Switzerland; Cardiff, UK; Vancouver, Canada; Michigan, US; and Uppsala, Sweden to meet demand and improve security of supply.
And following the recent acquisition of CEVEC, we are thrilled to be able to better serve our customers with expanded cell line development for viral vector manufacturing.
6. Industry research uncovered talent as a significant challenge.
Our Global Biopharma Resilience Index seeks feedback from key industry players to determine how the industry is performing as a whole and where we can focus to improve resilience in the future. In 2022, we dug deeper into the staggering finding that 50% of executives highlight cost of and access to talent as key industry challenges.
To learn more about the talent crunch, we spoke with experts on the subject during the 2022 BIO International Convention. This in-depth discussion highlighted the creative strategies organizations across the industry are employing to fill in the talent gap.
Cytiva celebrated 30 years of our Fast Trak™ services providing workforce training, now offering e-learning courses to reach audiences across the globe and complement on-site options. For a hands-on experience from anywhere in the world, Lakes Bioscience and the National Horizon Centre (NHC) began harnessing virtual reality to upskill biomanufacturing talent.
Finally, we continued our collaboration with the Biomedical Science Career Program (BSCP) to help nurture diverse talent in the life sciences.
7. Protecting the health of our planet remained a key focus.
To us, helping to deliver transformative medicines comes with the responsibility of protecting the planet patients call home. As our industry grows, we are committed to increasing site efficiency, seeking innovative opportunities for sustainability, and reducing negative environmental impacts wherever possible.
We found new ways for our customers to recycle plastic waste with a syringe filter recycling program and reduced our own plastic consumption by introducing more sustainable packaging.
To advance broader efforts addressing ongoing waste and pollution problems, we donated $50 000 to The University of Texas at Austin and the Laboratory for Cellular and Metabolic Engineering to support research into a plastic-devouring super-enzyme.
This year’s achievements across the life sciences have set the stage for burgeoning potential in healthcare. We can’t wait to continue doing our part to move medicine forward, through 2023 and beyond.
To learn about the different solutions Cytiva offers to help advance the development and manufacture of lifesaving therapeutics, visit the pages below:
Bioprocessing
Cell and gene therapy
Diagnostics
Genomics
Lab filtration
Protein research
