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Members of the Eden team will be at the following events over the coming months:
Attending: 23-26 August 2010
BioProcessing Summit
Boston, MA
To request a meeting with Roger Lias, please click here.
Attending: 15-17 September 2010
BioPharm America
Boston, MA
To request a meeting, please click here.
Presenting & Exhibiting: 20-24 September 2010
BioProcess International Conference
Providence, RI
Andrew Clutterbuck, Purification Development Team Leader, will present on Weds 22 at 5.30pm “From Bench to Bag: Deployment and Implementation of Novel Solutions for Vaccine Production”. Drop by our booth 912/914 or to request a meeting with the team, please click here.
For a full list of events we will be attending visit the events page.
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Why not read the latest articles to be published?
‘Balancing Media Development with Patient Safety’, Michelle Lea. As featured in BioPharm International Supplement, June 2010. Click here to view. |
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Given that this 10 year anniversary is no ordinary e-news addition, I have thought long and hard to come up with a suitable subject for my review. After much careful consideration I have opted for a service experience that is itself a journey from humble beginnings to something significantly more satisfying...
It will come as no surprise to readers familiar with Eden’s hard work, dedication, commitment to value and low charges etc, etc, to discover that in my 40 plus journeys to the US prior to December 2009, I have always travelled economy. Not just economy, but the cheapest possible ticket from what ever airline is in the most severe throes of desperation at the time. Of course, not a complaint, moan or murmur has ever passed my lips...
However, this all changed in Christmas 2009, when in the space of 7 days I made two return trips to the USA. In those four flights, all on British Airways (in the days when they actually had planes in the air for an entire week) I somehow contrived to travel in all 4 cabins - economy, premier economy, business class and first class.
For the benefit of you, my valued readers, here is how they compare:
Economy:
To be honest, I have tried to put as much of this particular flight out of my mind as possible. I do remember being in the middle of a row of three seats, so no aisle and no window. On my left was a quite large man who clearly was afflicted with some kind of restlessness disorder. On my right was a pleasant chap who was a PhD meteorologist and provided a commentary on the cloud formations for much of the trip. My shoulders were in constant contact with both for the entire journey and my knees were jammed against the seat in front. I felt every twitch and the vibrations of every snore. The food was OK (even if I couldn’t move my arms to eat it), the harried stewards were distant but not rude and the seat back entertainment worked. But after 10 hours in my personal space of about a foot cubed I was close to screaming with joy when we disembarked (or ‘deplaned’ as the steward announced). Ticket price: £400
Premier economy:
It’s amazing the difference that space makes. The seats were marginally larger, the leg space was considerably greater, the food was the same, the seat back entertainment identical but for once I could actually enjoy the journey. I felt calm, relaxed, and at peace as I sipped beer at 30,000 feet and squinted at a poorly lit TV screen the size of a credit card. It cost a $250 upgrade at check in but it seemed well worth it for the difference it made.
Business Class:
BA’s much advertised flat bed with seat separators to allow privacy. I have to confess a lack of objectivity here. I had never been on any long haul business class cabin before so I was so excited I was jumping up and down with lamentably childish excitement as I boarded. The food was good. A genuine meal rather than merely a tray of component foodstuffs. The wine was excellent, the service exemplary – and I had the best sleep I have ever had on a plane. I was able to go into the office and do a full days shift without a problem. A joy, but at a cost. Ticket price: £3000 approximately (single journey). Can any 10 hour journey be worth that kind of money? The answer is of course, “Yes, so long as someone else is paying”...
First class:
Have you ever felt that you don’t belong somewhere? That some things are just too good for the likes of you? That’s pretty much how I felt when I was personally greeted and shown to my seat. I say seat, perhaps recliner couch might be more appropriate. It was at the front of the plane so I had an amazing forward looking view and more space than I could possibly use. After engaging in more small talk than I’d had in my previous 40 flights put together, the stewardess asked me if I’d like a ‘sleep suit’? My response was a blank stare of semi panicked bewilderment so she helpfully added “...to change into”. I stammered a negative response, but this was clearly a mistake as everyone else in cabin put them on. A colleague suggested a better response might have been “No, I prefer to sleep naked” but the moment was lost. The service was amazing (they actually made my bed up for me – as I hopped from foot to foot feeling embarrassed obviously), the food fabulous, a genuine dining experience. The champagne the best I’ve ever tasted (I looked it up when I got home, thinking to buy a couple of bottles for Christmas – suffice to say I didn’t, somewhat outside my price range) and the other wines (yes, I sampled most of them) were incredible. The cost for this pampering decadence? About £7000 – one way. It can’t possibly be worth it, but once you’ve experienced it – you’ll always know what you’re missing the next times you fly!
Derek Ellison
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This month marks the 10 year anniversary of Eden Biodesign. This is a cause for celebration! As we remain committed to the future – building on our position as a leading, global biopharmaceutical contract services business and recognised biologics centre of excellence – we thought it was fitting, (if perhaps slightly indulgent!) to revisit some of our achievements over the past decade.
Eden Biodesign has grown from a single roomed office to a multinational organisation with locations in the United States and Europe and partner organisations all over the world. We operate a custom designed, 41,000 sq ft MHRA licensed multi-technology and multi-product cGMP biomanufacturing centre in Liverpool, UK, now employing about 90 people and poised to commence a new round of expansion.
Prior to 2000 and the founding of Eden, our core team worked together at Medeva plc, gaining pan European approval for a complex recombinant mammalian vaccine. It was this experience that under-pinned the formation of Eden as a consultancy specialising in CMC strategy and regulatory affairs and which ultimately led to Eden Biodesign being selected by the UK government in 2003 to design, build and operate the UK’s National Biomanufacturing Centre.
Although having had a major public sector client, Eden has always been a fully private, commercial business. Since 2004, Eden Biodesign has raised over £10m of capital from investors led by Stephens Inc, a major US private investment firm, to pursue expansion.
Eden took on the lease of the National Biomanufacturing Centre in 2006 and obtained its cGMP manufacturing license for IMPs in early 2007. The public sector service contract was completed by the end of 2008 with over 200 UK companies and academic groups assisted.
Eden Biodesign still maintains the entrepreneurial spirit, dedication to customer service and unmatched knowledge of development of both biotherapeutic and vaccine products that served it so well in the early years. By “beginning with the end in mind” on every customer project, Eden Biodesign has developed a reputation for being “much more than a CMO” and has successfully completed assignments for customers on six of the seven continents. We are a valued partner for organisations ranging from start-up biotechnology companies to multinational pharmaceutical companies and also serving governments, charities and financial institutions along the way.
Eden Biodesign is unusual in that we offer process development and cGMP manufacturing services for products derived from all three major production platforms: mammalian, microbial and viral. This, in turn, means that we have been able to assist customers with the development of a wide range of different biological product types, including monoclonal antibodies, recombinant protein therapeutics, gene therapies, prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines and cellular products.
We have direct experience in taking vaccines from concept to commercial licensure, and expertise developed by working with a wide range of vaccine technologies. This know-how, coupled with our flexible, segregated, state of the art facilities makes us an ideal partner for vaccine developers.
Over the past two years we have invested considerable effort in building relationships with some of the leading technology developers, adding a range of technologies, methods and procedures that can significantly benefit our clients via accelerated development programs and improved process economics. Some of these partners being BIA Separations, Invitrogen PD Direct, Millipore, Oxford Expression Technologies, and Selexis.
In January 2010, Eden Biodesign was acquired and is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI). Watson is a global speciality pharma business with revenues expected to exceed $3 billion in 2010. This provides us and our customers with extremely strong security as we continue to be dedicated to providing contract services to the marketplace.
Since opening the doors of our facility in 2006, we have completed well over eighty commercial projects and our customer base continues to grow as our established track record and reputation attracts an increasing number of new partners and friends throughout the world.
Within the past month alone we have signed two significant multi-million (£) contracts with world leading pharma companies for the development and manufacture of a critically important vaccine product and an exciting novel class of biopharmaceutical.
Eden Biodesign provides a full range of services for biopharmaceuticals and vaccines, including:
- Cell line and strain development from a wide range of expression systems
- cGMP cell banking and storage
- Analytical development, qualification and validation
- Process development, technology transfer and process validation
- cGMP manufacturing for all significant biopharmaceutical product technologies – mammalian, microbial and viral
- Comprehensive quality control and quality assurance support
- Formulation development
- ICH stablility studies
- Clinical trial supply logistics
- Assistance with international regulatory filings
- World-class facilities providing the full range of services required to take novel biopharmaceuticals and vaccines from proof of concept through cGMP manufacturing for clinical trials, market launch and commercial supply.
We are successful because of the calibre of our people. As part of a major pharma business, with a growing client base and expanding project portfolio we recruit the very best to join us. Please visit our current job vacancies page if you believe you possess the personality and skills to contribute to Eden Biodesign’s continued growth and success.
To find out more about our services, please visit www.edenbiodesign.com.
This newsletter is prepared by Eden Biodesign and comments and suggestions are most welcome.
Please address them to: Johanne Tabern (Tel: +44 (0)151 728 1750)
Eden Biodesign
National Biomanufacturing Centre, Estuary Banks
Estuary Commerce Park, Speke Road, Liverpool L24 8RB
www.edenbiodesign.com
If you do not wish to receive this newsletter in the future, please email Johanne to be removed from the mailing list.
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