Home > Companies > C-Suite On Deck > Q&A with Tara O'Sullivan, CMO at SKILLSOFT

Q&A with Tara O'Sullivan, CMO at SKILLSOFT

ONDECK | March 15, 2019

Q&A with Tara O'Sullivan, CMO at SKILLSOFT
Tara O’Sullivan, the CMO of Skillsoft shares her insights on the impact of digital transformation on marketers and the need to focus on slashing the wide gender pay gap. With over 25 years of experience including B2B marketing in Ireland, EMEA and the US, Tara has extensive expertise in using marketing to effect change.

Here are her thoughts on women in marketing and the changing dynamics of the profession.

MEDIA 7: Tara, how old were you when you had your first paying job?
TARA O'SULLIVAN: 14 – I worked for my Dad photocopying manuals for software training. I loved the work, I loved being in amongst the team of people who were there. There was a lot of fun with the other people who worked there, and I learnt a lot of lessons on dealing with people, working on end user manuals which were like 500 pages thick, making sure they were all collated properly, the cover looked good – all to provide a real sense of the importance of the training.

"Marketing teams are not aligned to what technology can do for them and how it can transform the business."



M7: What do you consider the biggest challenges for a CMO these days?
TS: Digital transformation. I believe the impact of digital transformation is impacting the CMO even more than other areas of the business. There are so many tools that can help the CMO get the data s/he needs, but it is figuring out which ones are the most relevant, timely and useful. I think a lot of marketing teams are not aligned to what technology can do for them and how it can transform the business.
The other major challenge is around proving to the business the benefit of marketing. As well as the funnel, and marketing sourced OI, we also need to better measure the branding impact on the business and how it supports revenue.


"Agile marketing is becoming more and more the standard, and in order to be agile, you need to be able to pivot."



M7: How important is learning and unlearning in today’s digital age of data and automation?
TS: Learning is the most important thing in my view. From figuring out what the new version of Excel can do for you (LOADS) to determining the best tech stack your marketing organization needs – we need to be learning. Agile marketing is becoming more and more the standard, and in order to be agile, you need to be able to pivot. This means that you need to be continually changing your approach in order to make the company more successful. Agile marketing is a brand new mindset for marketing people – there isn’t an annual budget, the team decides what to spend it on a quarterly basis, so sometimes you will be investing in SEO, or investing in demand generation depending on the needs of the business.


"The gender pay gap is wide and people think about it as being 80 cents on the dollar."



M7: Is Skillsoft closing the gap between the number of men and women in marketing? What are your views on gender equality in the present corporate world?
TS: Well I always thought marketing is different – I assumed that the majority of people entering marketing are women, but that’s not strictly true. Research from Axonn shows that women are only slightly more likely than men to enter the marketing world (21% vs 16%).
Marketing Week (a UK-based publication) carried out a survey and found that  female marketers earn less than male marketers in every sector and in every role, except that of marketing assistant.
Let’s remember though that the gender pay gap is wide and people think about it as being 80 cents on the dollar.  This is awful – but think about it over the lifetime of the female worker. Recent research analyzed a longitudinal dataset which shows total earnings across the most recent 15 years for all workers who worked in at least one year. The study found that women workers faced a wage gap of 51% in the 2001-2015 period. The research also found that the cost of taking time out of the labor force is exorbitant for women. For those who took just one year off from work, their annual earnings were 39% lower than women who worked all 15 years between 2001 and 2015.

ABOUT SKILLSOFT

SKILLSOFT is a global leader in corporate learning, delivering beautiful technology and engaging content that drives business impact for modern enterprises. Skillsoft comprises three award-winning systems that support learning, performance and success: Skillsoft learning content, the Percipio intelligent learning experience platform and the SumTotal suite for Human Capital Management.

Skillsoft provides a comprehensive selection of cloud-based corporate learning content, including courses, videos, books and other resources on Business and Management Skills, Leadership Development, Digital Transformation, Technology and Developer, Productivity and Collaboration Tools and Compliance. Percipio’s intuitive design engages modern learners and its consumer-led experience assists in accelerating learning. The SumTotal suite features four key components built on a unified platform: Learning Management, Talent Management, Talent Acquisition and Workforce Management.

Skillsoft is trusted by thousands of the world’s leading organizations, including 65 percent of the Fortune 500. Learn more at www.skillsoft.com.

More C-Suite on deck

Q&A with Sangram Vajre, Co-founder & Chief Evangelist at Terminus

MEDIA 7 | January 9, 2020

Sangram Vajre, Co-Founder & Chief Evangelist at Terminus is also an author and host of the podcast FlipmyFunnel. He is one of the leading minds in B2B marketing. MEDIA 7: What are you passionate about? SANGRAM VAJRE: Three things: Lead professionally. Grow personally. Love family. M7: Terminus has been recognized as one of Georgia’s 40 fastest-growing companies by ACG Atlanta. What factors contribute to this pace? SV: One of our core values is #OneTeam – which means we think and act as one team and know that if we treat our team right, they will treat our customers amazing. There are no great companies, only great people that make those companies.

Read More

Q&A with Andrea Lechner-Becker, Chief Marketing Officer at LeadMD

MEDIA 7 | December 5, 2019

Andrea Lechner-Becker, Chief Marketing Officer at LeadMD is an experienced Marketing and Sales Executive with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. Skilled in Business Process, Marketo, Sales, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and IT Service Management, Andrea is also a strong business development professional and a storyteller. MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing? ANDREA LECHNER: Frankly, not having better options. I originally attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse thinking I’d major in Archaeology. I wanted to be Indiana Jones! But, after visiting the archaeology building – i.e. the cold, dark basement of the science building – where a girl sat to piece together pieces of an old Native American vase, I knew archaeology was not going to be the right path for me. And so, without being good at science and a major in art or art history was unlikely to pay my bills, I decided to go into “business”. I originally registered as a management major, but took my first marketing class and thought it was more interesting and switched my sophomore year. That was pretty much it. I’d never been involved in business classes or DECA in high school – I didn’t really know what to do or what jobs in marketing were even possible. I dumb lucked myself into it really. M7: As a storyteller, do you relate the brand to a story or story to the brand? AL: Both? Neither? I think there are stories in every brand, because there are people working on the brand and people engaging with the brand and people using what the brand creates. People, most often a single person, are at the heart of great stories. You can start with the “point” of the story you’re trying to tell. Say you have a software that help accountants better create reports for board meetings. It’s likely you’ll want to tell a success story about an accountant getting promoted to CFO in part because your software helped better communicate their work product to the board. You could have the idea for that and go looking for that story in your customers. OR, you could hear that story, and say, “That’s amazing!” and share it with customers, partners and internal people. Stories are all around us – the most important thing is to keep your ears and eyes open for finding them.

Read More

Q&A with Ed Breault, Chief Marketing Officer at Aprimo

MEDIA 7 | November 28, 2019

Ed Breault, Chief Marketing Officer at Aprimo is a marketer with over 18 years of industry experience. At Aprimo, Ed is responsible for the global brand and growth which includes all Paid/Owned/Earned media, Brand Experience, Product Marketing, Industry Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Strategic Communications, Content Marketing, Analyst Relations, Alliance Marketing, Public Relations, Events, Demand Generation and Account-Based Marketing. MEDIA 7: What’s your superpower? ED BREAULT: I would say it’s applying the full spectrum of art and science that is required in marketing today. Not just left or right brained, but whole-brained strategy. Being human yet data-driven and really understanding numbers and (the right) metrics to make connections to business drivers. Add storytelling to that, so I can effectively communicate to my team, the CEO and CFO as well as my Board of Directors on those metrics, and connecting all that we are doing in marketing to the mission of the business. Then quickly shifting gears to the art and creative aspects of marketing that are required to engage an audience and tell great commercial stories that take complex concepts and craft them in a way that is interesting for people to pay attention to. I have to be the ultimate point of truth for the brand. M7: At Aprimo, how have marketing leadership roles and responsibilities evolved over the past few years? EB: There are so many dimensions needed by marketing leaders today. There are several elements driving this evolution, it’s the new experience battlefront that is emerging and also marketers themselves driving changes. From a market perspective, there is a clear appetite for disruption and consumers are wanting more experiential elements to their buying experience and interactions with brands. Take a few direct to consumer disruptions like trialing products in-home, purchasing directly from a brand or even wanting to ensure that the producer’s trade practices are in line with the buyer’s or even a regulator’s for that matter. Then we want to try before we buy, and we emotionally care about the supply chain of products. Do we TRUST this brand to do business with them? Behind all of this is a story that needs to be told, and it is those marketers who know their audience well and make connections that will win the commercial game. Back to the marketer, there are so many diverse backgrounds that marketers bring now and I’m really intrigued by those who have unconventional backgrounds because they contribute something uniquely new to the field. I love hearing about the marketer’s journey.

Read More

Q&A with Sangram Vajre, Co-founder & Chief Evangelist at Terminus

MEDIA 7 | January 9, 2020

Sangram Vajre, Co-Founder & Chief Evangelist at Terminus is also an author and host of the podcast FlipmyFunnel. He is one of the leading minds in B2B marketing. MEDIA 7: What are you passionate about? SANGRAM VAJRE: Three things: Lead professionally. Grow personally. Love family. M7: Terminus has been recognized as one of Georgia’s 40 fastest-growing companies by ACG Atlanta. What factors contribute to this pace? SV: One of our core values is #OneTeam – which means we think and act as one team and know that if we treat our team right, they will treat our customers amazing. There are no great companies, only great people that make those companies.

Read More

Q&A with Andrea Lechner-Becker, Chief Marketing Officer at LeadMD

MEDIA 7 | December 5, 2019

Andrea Lechner-Becker, Chief Marketing Officer at LeadMD is an experienced Marketing and Sales Executive with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. Skilled in Business Process, Marketo, Sales, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and IT Service Management, Andrea is also a strong business development professional and a storyteller. MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing? ANDREA LECHNER: Frankly, not having better options. I originally attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse thinking I’d major in Archaeology. I wanted to be Indiana Jones! But, after visiting the archaeology building – i.e. the cold, dark basement of the science building – where a girl sat to piece together pieces of an old Native American vase, I knew archaeology was not going to be the right path for me. And so, without being good at science and a major in art or art history was unlikely to pay my bills, I decided to go into “business”. I originally registered as a management major, but took my first marketing class and thought it was more interesting and switched my sophomore year. That was pretty much it. I’d never been involved in business classes or DECA in high school – I didn’t really know what to do or what jobs in marketing were even possible. I dumb lucked myself into it really. M7: As a storyteller, do you relate the brand to a story or story to the brand? AL: Both? Neither? I think there are stories in every brand, because there are people working on the brand and people engaging with the brand and people using what the brand creates. People, most often a single person, are at the heart of great stories. You can start with the “point” of the story you’re trying to tell. Say you have a software that help accountants better create reports for board meetings. It’s likely you’ll want to tell a success story about an accountant getting promoted to CFO in part because your software helped better communicate their work product to the board. You could have the idea for that and go looking for that story in your customers. OR, you could hear that story, and say, “That’s amazing!” and share it with customers, partners and internal people. Stories are all around us – the most important thing is to keep your ears and eyes open for finding them.

Read More

Q&A with Ed Breault, Chief Marketing Officer at Aprimo

MEDIA 7 | November 28, 2019

Ed Breault, Chief Marketing Officer at Aprimo is a marketer with over 18 years of industry experience. At Aprimo, Ed is responsible for the global brand and growth which includes all Paid/Owned/Earned media, Brand Experience, Product Marketing, Industry Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Strategic Communications, Content Marketing, Analyst Relations, Alliance Marketing, Public Relations, Events, Demand Generation and Account-Based Marketing. MEDIA 7: What’s your superpower? ED BREAULT: I would say it’s applying the full spectrum of art and science that is required in marketing today. Not just left or right brained, but whole-brained strategy. Being human yet data-driven and really understanding numbers and (the right) metrics to make connections to business drivers. Add storytelling to that, so I can effectively communicate to my team, the CEO and CFO as well as my Board of Directors on those metrics, and connecting all that we are doing in marketing to the mission of the business. Then quickly shifting gears to the art and creative aspects of marketing that are required to engage an audience and tell great commercial stories that take complex concepts and craft them in a way that is interesting for people to pay attention to. I have to be the ultimate point of truth for the brand. M7: At Aprimo, how have marketing leadership roles and responsibilities evolved over the past few years? EB: There are so many dimensions needed by marketing leaders today. There are several elements driving this evolution, it’s the new experience battlefront that is emerging and also marketers themselves driving changes. From a market perspective, there is a clear appetite for disruption and consumers are wanting more experiential elements to their buying experience and interactions with brands. Take a few direct to consumer disruptions like trialing products in-home, purchasing directly from a brand or even wanting to ensure that the producer’s trade practices are in line with the buyer’s or even a regulator’s for that matter. Then we want to try before we buy, and we emotionally care about the supply chain of products. Do we TRUST this brand to do business with them? Behind all of this is a story that needs to be told, and it is those marketers who know their audience well and make connections that will win the commercial game. Back to the marketer, there are so many diverse backgrounds that marketers bring now and I’m really intrigued by those who have unconventional backgrounds because they contribute something uniquely new to the field. I love hearing about the marketer’s journey.

Read More

Related News

Medical

Repligen Announces Agreement to Acquire Fluid Management Innovator Metenova

globenewswire | September 28, 2023

Repligen Corporation a life sciences company focused on bioprocessing technology leadership, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Metenova AB (Metenova) of Mölndal, Sweden. Metenova is projected to generate revenues of $24 million to $25 million for fiscal year 2023, led by the success of its magnetic mixing and drive train technologies that are widely used by global biopharmaceutical companies and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs). The company recently entered the single-use mixing market with the launch of its MixOne platform, leveraging the success of its existing stainless steel (repeat-use) product line. Metenova is expected to contribute approximately $5 million in revenue to Repligen in the fourth quarter of 2023, and to contribute $25 million to $27 million in revenue in 2024, with 20%-25% revenue growth in 2025 forward. The acquisition is anticipated to be accretive to Repligen’s adjusted gross and operating margins in 2024, and to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share in 2025. Over the past decade, Metenova has established market leadership through design innovation in magnetic mixing, with a state-of-the-art suite of both stainless steel and single-use impellers (mixer heads) and drive trains – key components of mixing vessels. The company offers a broad range of products, including high power solutions for efficient media and buffer preparation, and low shear solutions for gentle mixing of sensitive proteins. Metenova’s high performance aseptic mixing technologies are designed to minimize product damage and improve product yield and product consistency, contributing to improved ROI for customers. The company’s solutions are applicable to a wide range of small molecule and large molecule therapeutics and vaccines, including monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, and cell and gene therapies. Tony J. Hunt, President and Chief Executive Officer at Repligen said, “The addition of Metenova further strengthens our Fluid Management portfolio, with a product line that expands on the market success of our systems and fluid management assemblies and complements our recently acquired single-use bag business from FlexBiosys. We are excited to welcome the Metenova team to Repligen and we look forward to further developing and integrating their differentiated magnetic mixing technologies into our portfolio.” Johan Westman, Chief Executive Officer at Metenova said, “We have made tremendous progress over the last ten years, building a market leading mixing portfolio. We are now at a stage in our development where we can benefit from more rapid expansion into the single-use market where many of our customers are scaling today. Repligen is the ideal partner for us to take this next step of growth and we look forward to working with our colleagues at Repligen to drive additional global demand for our single-use mixing products, while continuing to advance innovative single-use solutions for the industry.” About Metenova AB Metenova is a leading innovator and manufacturer of magnetic mixers for pharmaceutical and biotechnology use. We provide aseptic cutting-edge mixing technology for critical applications. Sales are mainly performed by distributors in over 30 countries with approximately one-third of sales in North America, one-third of sales in Europe and one-third of sales in Asia/ROW. Metenova recently entered the single-use mixing market with the launch of its MixOne platform, leveraging the success of its existing repeat-use (stainless steel) product line. Metenova is headquartered in Mölndal in the Gothenburg area and has approximately 50 employees. About Repligen Corporation Repligen Corporation is a global life sciences company that develops and commercializes highly innovative bioprocessing technologies and systems that enable efficiencies in the process of manufacturing biological drugs. We are “inspiring advances in bioprocessing” for the customers we serve; primarily biopharmaceutical drug developers and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) worldwide. Our focus areas are Filtration and Fluid Management, Chromatography, Process Analytics and Proteins. Our corporate headquarters are in Waltham, Massachusetts, and the majority of our manufacturing sites are in the U.S., with additional key sites in Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Read More

Medical

Exacta Bioscience and Ginkgo Bioworks Announce Partnership to Optimize Exacta's Crop Protection Product

prnewswire | September 01, 2023

Exacta Bioscience, a biotech company that harnesses the power of nature and its microorganisms for crop protection, and Ginkgo Bioworks which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, today announced that Exacta is leveraging Ginkgo's end-to-end agricultural R&D services to run a fermentation optimization and scale-up program to enhance one of its crop protection products, FitoRoot®, paving the way for large-scale commercialization. FitoRoot, a biostimulant product composed of three Bacillus strains, is designed to help crops better absorb water, nutrients and strengthen their defenses against abiotic stress. This can lead to overall better crop health, improved yield and increased resistance to stress conditions such as drought or extreme temperatures. Through this partnership, Exacta will use Ginkgo's fermentation and formulation optimization services to reduce the cost of goods to make its FitoRoot technology more competitive. Accordingly, FitoRoot is currently marketed in Chile and is expected to expand to other Latin American markets, with a planned launch in 2023 by Adama Chile, who is driving biological adoption in the region. Adama Ltd is one of the world's leading crop protection companies. "We chose Ginkgo because their deep expertise in agricultural product development and optimization positions us to make one of our key crop protection products, FitoRoot, more accessible," said José Bustos, CEO at Exacta Bioscience. "We're proud of the progress Exacta has made, and this partnership marks a vital step toward accelerating our efforts to assure the quality and availability of one of our products and creating a stable and safer ecosystem." "Exacta Bioscience's emphasis on microbial solutions in crop health brings more sustainable and differentiated solutions to farmers throughout the Americas," said Magalie Guilhabert, Head of Ag Biologicals, Ginkgo Bioworks. "Together, we can continue to push the boundaries of agricultural innovation through biotechnological solutions that promote a more sustainable future for our food systems." Ginkgo's end-to-end agricultural services can help R&D teams develop more effective biological products across a variety of applications. Find out more. About Ginkgo Bioworks Ginkgo Bioworks is the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty chemicals. Ginkgo's biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, is building global infrastructure for biosecurity to empower governments, communities, and public health leaders to prevent, detect, and respond to a wide variety of biological threats. About Exacta Bioscience Exacta Bioscience is a pioneering biotech company that uses microorganisms to create innovative bioproducts for agriculture. Their nature-inspired solutions support a future without chemical pesticides and antibiotics. With extensive knowledge of microorganisms and their effects on crops and soil, Exacta tackles modern farming challenges. Their expertise is in formulating microorganism mixtures, providing a wide range of bioproducts, specifically for crop protection. They are dedicated to delivering effective, stable, and safe crop protection and soil-enhancing products. They invite everyone to join in advancing sustainable practices for a healthier future.

Read More

Cell and Gene Therapy, Medical

Synthego and bit.bio Expand Strategic Partnership to Build a Platform for the Development of Safer and More Efficient Genetic Engineering of Human

prnewswire | August 25, 2023

Synthego, a leading provider of industrialized genome editing solutions that accelerate discovery to clinic journey, and bit.bio, the company coding human cells for novel cures, today announced a strategic partnership to build a platform centered on the implementation of synthetic circuitry in cells for therapeutic application. bit.bio is building a pipeline of cell therapies focused on areas of unmet clinical need. The partnership will apply Synthego's expertise in gene editing to bit.bio's opti-oxTM precision cell programming technology, with the aim of discovering and developing advanced genetic engineering solutions for cell therapies. Synthego will rapidly design, build, test and deliver an end-to-end optimized multiplexed genetic editing strategy. The implementation of the multiplexed opti-ox engineering approach will reduce the number of engineering steps required, with the potential of shortening clinical cell engineering and development timelines by up to 10 months. "bit.bio is the leading synthetic biology company focussed on human cells. We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with bit.bio to facilitate a leap forward in the development of synthetic biology-based cell therapies," said Paul Dabrowski, CEO at Synthego. "By coordinating our respective technologies, expertise and resources, we will unlock new opportunities for addressing critical challenges in the field by advancing the R&D cycle of innovative cell therapies." "Synthego are experts when it comes to industrialized cell engineering," stated Mark Kotter, CEO at bit.bio. "Teaming up with Synthego will boost our genetic engineering capabilities. We expect efficiency gains across bit.bio's platform which will allow us and our partners to deliver transformative therapies more rapidly to patients in need." About Synthego Synthego is a genome engineering company that enables the acceleration of life science research and development in the pursuit of improved human health. The company leverages machine learning, automation, and gene editing to build platforms and products for science at scale. With its foundations in engineering disciplines, the company's platform technologies vertically integrate proprietary hardware, software, bioinformatics, chemistries, and molecular biology to advance basic research, target validation, and clinical trials. With its technologies cited in hundreds of peer-reviewed publications and utilized by thousands of commercial and academic researchers and therapeutic drug developers, Synthego is at the forefront of innovation, enabling the next generation of medicines by delivering genome editing at an unprecedented scale. About bit.bio bit.bio is a synthetic biology company focused on human cells that is advancing medicine (UN SDG9) and enabling curative treatments (UN SDG3). The company does this by industrializing the manufacture of human cells and making them more accessible. The company was spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2016 and has since raised approximately $200m from investors such as Arch Ventures, Foresite Capital, Milky Way, Charles River Laboratories, National Resilience, Tencent, Verition Fund and Puhua Capital. bit.bio's opti-ox™ precision cell programming and manufacturing technology enables conversion of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into any desired human cell type in a single step. This can be achieved within days and at industrial scale, while maintaining exceptional purity and unparalleled consistency. Our discovery platform extends this approach to any desired cell type by identifying the transcription factor combinations that define cell states (including identity, cell subtype identity, maturity) using high throughput screens and advanced data analysis. We believe that opti-ox can revolutionize regenerative medicine similarly to how CRISPR is unlocking gene therapy. bit.bio's cell therapy pipeline is focused on serious diseases that currently lack effective treatments. Our preclinical research areas include liver, immunology and metabolic disease, and we have a collaboration with BlueRock Therapeutics (Bayer AG) to create therapeutics for autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. In addition, our extensive ioCells™ research cell product portfolio, which includes wild type and disease model cells, is opening up new possibilities for studying human biology and developing new medicines in both research and high throughput and high content drug discovery.

Read More

Medical

Repligen Announces Agreement to Acquire Fluid Management Innovator Metenova

globenewswire | September 28, 2023

Repligen Corporation a life sciences company focused on bioprocessing technology leadership, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Metenova AB (Metenova) of Mölndal, Sweden. Metenova is projected to generate revenues of $24 million to $25 million for fiscal year 2023, led by the success of its magnetic mixing and drive train technologies that are widely used by global biopharmaceutical companies and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs). The company recently entered the single-use mixing market with the launch of its MixOne platform, leveraging the success of its existing stainless steel (repeat-use) product line. Metenova is expected to contribute approximately $5 million in revenue to Repligen in the fourth quarter of 2023, and to contribute $25 million to $27 million in revenue in 2024, with 20%-25% revenue growth in 2025 forward. The acquisition is anticipated to be accretive to Repligen’s adjusted gross and operating margins in 2024, and to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share in 2025. Over the past decade, Metenova has established market leadership through design innovation in magnetic mixing, with a state-of-the-art suite of both stainless steel and single-use impellers (mixer heads) and drive trains – key components of mixing vessels. The company offers a broad range of products, including high power solutions for efficient media and buffer preparation, and low shear solutions for gentle mixing of sensitive proteins. Metenova’s high performance aseptic mixing technologies are designed to minimize product damage and improve product yield and product consistency, contributing to improved ROI for customers. The company’s solutions are applicable to a wide range of small molecule and large molecule therapeutics and vaccines, including monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, and cell and gene therapies. Tony J. Hunt, President and Chief Executive Officer at Repligen said, “The addition of Metenova further strengthens our Fluid Management portfolio, with a product line that expands on the market success of our systems and fluid management assemblies and complements our recently acquired single-use bag business from FlexBiosys. We are excited to welcome the Metenova team to Repligen and we look forward to further developing and integrating their differentiated magnetic mixing technologies into our portfolio.” Johan Westman, Chief Executive Officer at Metenova said, “We have made tremendous progress over the last ten years, building a market leading mixing portfolio. We are now at a stage in our development where we can benefit from more rapid expansion into the single-use market where many of our customers are scaling today. Repligen is the ideal partner for us to take this next step of growth and we look forward to working with our colleagues at Repligen to drive additional global demand for our single-use mixing products, while continuing to advance innovative single-use solutions for the industry.” About Metenova AB Metenova is a leading innovator and manufacturer of magnetic mixers for pharmaceutical and biotechnology use. We provide aseptic cutting-edge mixing technology for critical applications. Sales are mainly performed by distributors in over 30 countries with approximately one-third of sales in North America, one-third of sales in Europe and one-third of sales in Asia/ROW. Metenova recently entered the single-use mixing market with the launch of its MixOne platform, leveraging the success of its existing repeat-use (stainless steel) product line. Metenova is headquartered in Mölndal in the Gothenburg area and has approximately 50 employees. About Repligen Corporation Repligen Corporation is a global life sciences company that develops and commercializes highly innovative bioprocessing technologies and systems that enable efficiencies in the process of manufacturing biological drugs. We are “inspiring advances in bioprocessing” for the customers we serve; primarily biopharmaceutical drug developers and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) worldwide. Our focus areas are Filtration and Fluid Management, Chromatography, Process Analytics and Proteins. Our corporate headquarters are in Waltham, Massachusetts, and the majority of our manufacturing sites are in the U.S., with additional key sites in Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Read More

Medical

Exacta Bioscience and Ginkgo Bioworks Announce Partnership to Optimize Exacta's Crop Protection Product

prnewswire | September 01, 2023

Exacta Bioscience, a biotech company that harnesses the power of nature and its microorganisms for crop protection, and Ginkgo Bioworks which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, today announced that Exacta is leveraging Ginkgo's end-to-end agricultural R&D services to run a fermentation optimization and scale-up program to enhance one of its crop protection products, FitoRoot®, paving the way for large-scale commercialization. FitoRoot, a biostimulant product composed of three Bacillus strains, is designed to help crops better absorb water, nutrients and strengthen their defenses against abiotic stress. This can lead to overall better crop health, improved yield and increased resistance to stress conditions such as drought or extreme temperatures. Through this partnership, Exacta will use Ginkgo's fermentation and formulation optimization services to reduce the cost of goods to make its FitoRoot technology more competitive. Accordingly, FitoRoot is currently marketed in Chile and is expected to expand to other Latin American markets, with a planned launch in 2023 by Adama Chile, who is driving biological adoption in the region. Adama Ltd is one of the world's leading crop protection companies. "We chose Ginkgo because their deep expertise in agricultural product development and optimization positions us to make one of our key crop protection products, FitoRoot, more accessible," said José Bustos, CEO at Exacta Bioscience. "We're proud of the progress Exacta has made, and this partnership marks a vital step toward accelerating our efforts to assure the quality and availability of one of our products and creating a stable and safer ecosystem." "Exacta Bioscience's emphasis on microbial solutions in crop health brings more sustainable and differentiated solutions to farmers throughout the Americas," said Magalie Guilhabert, Head of Ag Biologicals, Ginkgo Bioworks. "Together, we can continue to push the boundaries of agricultural innovation through biotechnological solutions that promote a more sustainable future for our food systems." Ginkgo's end-to-end agricultural services can help R&D teams develop more effective biological products across a variety of applications. Find out more. About Ginkgo Bioworks Ginkgo Bioworks is the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty chemicals. Ginkgo's biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, is building global infrastructure for biosecurity to empower governments, communities, and public health leaders to prevent, detect, and respond to a wide variety of biological threats. About Exacta Bioscience Exacta Bioscience is a pioneering biotech company that uses microorganisms to create innovative bioproducts for agriculture. Their nature-inspired solutions support a future without chemical pesticides and antibiotics. With extensive knowledge of microorganisms and their effects on crops and soil, Exacta tackles modern farming challenges. Their expertise is in formulating microorganism mixtures, providing a wide range of bioproducts, specifically for crop protection. They are dedicated to delivering effective, stable, and safe crop protection and soil-enhancing products. They invite everyone to join in advancing sustainable practices for a healthier future.

Read More

Cell and Gene Therapy, Medical

Synthego and bit.bio Expand Strategic Partnership to Build a Platform for the Development of Safer and More Efficient Genetic Engineering of Human

prnewswire | August 25, 2023

Synthego, a leading provider of industrialized genome editing solutions that accelerate discovery to clinic journey, and bit.bio, the company coding human cells for novel cures, today announced a strategic partnership to build a platform centered on the implementation of synthetic circuitry in cells for therapeutic application. bit.bio is building a pipeline of cell therapies focused on areas of unmet clinical need. The partnership will apply Synthego's expertise in gene editing to bit.bio's opti-oxTM precision cell programming technology, with the aim of discovering and developing advanced genetic engineering solutions for cell therapies. Synthego will rapidly design, build, test and deliver an end-to-end optimized multiplexed genetic editing strategy. The implementation of the multiplexed opti-ox engineering approach will reduce the number of engineering steps required, with the potential of shortening clinical cell engineering and development timelines by up to 10 months. "bit.bio is the leading synthetic biology company focussed on human cells. We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with bit.bio to facilitate a leap forward in the development of synthetic biology-based cell therapies," said Paul Dabrowski, CEO at Synthego. "By coordinating our respective technologies, expertise and resources, we will unlock new opportunities for addressing critical challenges in the field by advancing the R&D cycle of innovative cell therapies." "Synthego are experts when it comes to industrialized cell engineering," stated Mark Kotter, CEO at bit.bio. "Teaming up with Synthego will boost our genetic engineering capabilities. We expect efficiency gains across bit.bio's platform which will allow us and our partners to deliver transformative therapies more rapidly to patients in need." About Synthego Synthego is a genome engineering company that enables the acceleration of life science research and development in the pursuit of improved human health. The company leverages machine learning, automation, and gene editing to build platforms and products for science at scale. With its foundations in engineering disciplines, the company's platform technologies vertically integrate proprietary hardware, software, bioinformatics, chemistries, and molecular biology to advance basic research, target validation, and clinical trials. With its technologies cited in hundreds of peer-reviewed publications and utilized by thousands of commercial and academic researchers and therapeutic drug developers, Synthego is at the forefront of innovation, enabling the next generation of medicines by delivering genome editing at an unprecedented scale. About bit.bio bit.bio is a synthetic biology company focused on human cells that is advancing medicine (UN SDG9) and enabling curative treatments (UN SDG3). The company does this by industrializing the manufacture of human cells and making them more accessible. The company was spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2016 and has since raised approximately $200m from investors such as Arch Ventures, Foresite Capital, Milky Way, Charles River Laboratories, National Resilience, Tencent, Verition Fund and Puhua Capital. bit.bio's opti-ox™ precision cell programming and manufacturing technology enables conversion of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into any desired human cell type in a single step. This can be achieved within days and at industrial scale, while maintaining exceptional purity and unparalleled consistency. Our discovery platform extends this approach to any desired cell type by identifying the transcription factor combinations that define cell states (including identity, cell subtype identity, maturity) using high throughput screens and advanced data analysis. We believe that opti-ox can revolutionize regenerative medicine similarly to how CRISPR is unlocking gene therapy. bit.bio's cell therapy pipeline is focused on serious diseases that currently lack effective treatments. Our preclinical research areas include liver, immunology and metabolic disease, and we have a collaboration with BlueRock Therapeutics (Bayer AG) to create therapeutics for autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. In addition, our extensive ioCells™ research cell product portfolio, which includes wild type and disease model cells, is opening up new possibilities for studying human biology and developing new medicines in both research and high throughput and high content drug discovery.

Read More

Spotlight

Events

BIO Patient & Health Advocacy Summit

Conference

International Conference on Recent Developments in White Biotechnology (ICRDWB - 24)

Conference

Bio Supply Management Alliance Europe Conference

Conference

Resources

resource image

Medical

Bispecific Antibodies Unleashed from Mechanisms to Manufacturing and Strategic Collaboration for Effective Precision Immunotherapy

Whitepaper

resource image

Medical

Bispecific Antibodies Unleashed from Mechanisms to Manufacturing and Strategic Collaboration for Effective Precision Immunotherapy

Whitepaper

resource image

Research, Medical

Small Molecule Apis Made with Compelling Science

Whitepaper

resource image

Medical

Image analysis software for true ultra high content data on the MACSima™ Imaging System

Video

Events