GBI: AI will change the CDMO landscape, but not without trained staff

AI could change the CDMO landscape but there is a lack of data scientists who have the required training, says GBI Biomanufacturing.

With more CDMOs looking into digital technologies as a solution to manufacturing challenges, Amita Quadros, vice president of commercial operations at GBI Biomanufacturing told BioProcess Insider at BIO in Boston “AI will change the whole landscape of how CDMOs operate in the future.”

GBI Biomanufacturing is a Florida-based biopharmaceutical CDMO, which has been operating since 1992.

Amita Quadros spoke at the BPI Theater at BIO.

Quadros said this is because AI enables automation of production lines, visual inspection, quality control and processing, and preventative maintenance of equipment. However, despite its clear advantages, there are concerns in the small-to-midsized CDMO space over the lack of talent with the relevant digital skillsets.

Quadros said part of this problem is “because whatever few PhD data scientists are out there, they are lapped up by the big tech giants, like Google and Microsoft. So, there is not very many data scientists that are available for the manufacturing and operations spaces, which is important if we have to use AI moving forward.”

The adoption of digitalization in the Life Sciences space has ramped up over the last few years. COVID-19 is said to have pushed the sector to kickstart Pharma 4.0,  which CEO of Apprentice Angelo Stracquatanio, defined as “the intersection to connect your people, to your process, to your physical environment” – and new and emerging technologies in April 2021.

In April, training organization Jefferson Institute for Bioprocessing (JIB) said digital processes and advanced AI will improve production of cell and gene therapies (CGT) going forward. Furthermore, contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Theragent signed a multi-year agreement with artificial intelligence (AI)-based software firm Insight68 to streamline and digitalize the cell therapy manufacturing process one month prior.

Moving into the space

While challenges associated with the AI space were outlined during the interview, Quadros remained positive about digitization and said, “we all want to move into the space where we are continuously improving our systems, we want to deliver high-quality, low-cost manufacturing, and reproducible batches for our clients.”

In particular, she pointed out the importance of AI once you have moved into the commercial space.

“In order to have that repetitive high-quality product, using AI technology will be very beneficial because based on the data that we get, we can make certain decisions and we can program it to the right parameters. So, I definitely think as we go on and we expand it will be one avenue that we will definitely consider implementing in the future.”