Q&A with Acino: Learning about contract manufacturing

EPM speaks to Yuliyana Manolova, business development manager of Contract Manufacturing at Acino to learn about the world of contract manufacturing.

Choosing the right partner to manufacture your product is key for customers. What would you say is the most important attribute?

It has to be a combination of attributes. Many contract manufacturing organisations (CMOs) have the technical capabilities to manufacture a product, but this alone is not enough. There are many other factors which define how well the transfer will go and whether the parties can work smoothly together.

I once attended a manufacturing conference that was very technical, and the hosts had prepared a live poll asking which factor represented the greatest risk in new partnerships. There were over 200 people present in the room and the answer with the highest number of votes was “Cultural and organisational fit”. People are the driving force behind every successful project or company, and just as important are the technical capabilities and the technical know-how. Without solid expertise, scientific knowledge, a solid understanding of your customer’s needs and equally high-quality standards, it can be difficult to achieve great results.

What changes have occurred for Acino Contract Manufacturing over the last six to 12 months?

The last 12 months have been very dynamic for Acino Contract Manufacturing. In addition to the transfer activities at our Swiss and Estonian plants, we also implemented a new marketing and sales strategy, as it is important to find new ways of introducing our high-quality services to potential customers.

Again, producing high-quality products in state-of-the-art facilities is not enough; we have to ensure people are aware of what we can offer. Our efforts paid off and we received great feedback: so we know that we are on the right track.

Covid-19 has enforced a different way of working with customers. How have Acino responded to this change?

We are lucky to be living in a digitalised world that allows us to continue working with our clients during the pandemic. From a CMO perspective, I would not say that there is a new way of working with customers, but rather that there were some temporary challenges we needed to address. There were active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and excipient delivery delays, and sometimes-revised ordered quantities which had to be clearly communicated. There were also delays in launches due to the market uncertainty. We remained flexible and supported our clients during these difficult times. The experience allowed us to strengthen our partnerships and to gain trust as a reliable company.

What new solutions are Acino offering that perhaps incorporates a digital solution?

As a result of the pandemic we could not schedule face-to-face meetings with our clients and organise site tours. This was a big challenge for us as we have a lot of projects in the pipeline. External visitors are still not allowed in our facilities for safety reasons and we had to find a way to help new partners visualise where their products could be produced. We introduced LIVE 360 degrees sessions with excellent audio connection that allow the participants to have full visibility in our facilities and interact freely with our colleagues in the production sites. As a result of this successful implementation we also used the technology to conduct our first virtual on-site audit. It was conducted by one of our biggest customers and we successfully passed it. Exciting success story.

What is the roadmap for the next 12 months for Acino Contract Manufacturing and its customers?

There are a lot of new transfer projects we have recently started, and we are hiring new colleagues in the Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and Manufacturing, Science and Technology teams to support these activities. We are investing in technology and capacity increase and have started a project to assess the upgrade of our Liesberg bulk manufacturing plant to handle high potency products. It is an exciting time to be part of Acino and our management is leading us through remarkable growth despite the difficult Covid-19 context.