De-risking Biomanufacturing: From Strain Design to Purification
Upstream and downstream are too often developed in isolation, and that disconnect is where scale-up surprises, rising costs and failed batches tend to appear.
This panel brings together a startup, a scale-up facility and an equipment supplier to discuss how to de-risk bioprocess development end to end, from strain design through to purification. We’ll cover:
How variability coming out of fermentation affects separation and purification
What pilot testing can tell you, and where results diverge from industrial production
The blind spots in process development that most often lead to scale-up surprises
The role of digital and AI tools in process development and scale-up today
The session is designed for R&D directors, process development leads and anyone taking a bioprocess from lab to industrial scale. It opens with a short introduction from the hosts, followed by the panel discussion and audience Q&A.
Hosts:
Zoe Yu Tung Law, co-founder and CEO of New Wave Biotech, whose DSP Decision Intelligence platform, Bioprocess Foresight, helps teams compare downstream options and forecast performance, cost and sustainability before they scale
Rémi Peyraud, co-founder and CEO of iMEAN Biotech, which builds “digital organisms” to guide strain design and fermentation
Panellists:
Dr. Maya Bendifallah, co-founder and CSO of Nutropy, a startup developing animal-free dairy using precision fermentation. She has worked in precision fermentation for 15 years across the United States and France, holds a PhD from Université Paris-Saclay, and has carried out research with French public institutes including the CNRS and CEA. She built and now leads Nutropy’s scientific team and strategy.
Dr.-Ing. Jan-Niklas Denker, Director Pilot Testing at GEA’s Process Test Center. He leads pilot testing for separation processes, supporting the transfer of test results and process concepts from pilot scale to industrial applications.
Dr. Khadidja Romari, President and CEO of Biotech Open Platform, with over 25 years of experience in industrial biotechnology, fermentation process development and scale-up. Her expertise lies in bridging laboratory innovation and industrial manufacturing, with a strong focus on process performance, scalability and downstream processing.