BIO Alabama announces all-star panel for virtual annual conference

BIO Alabama announced a panel of executive leaders from the state’s biopharma and medical device and equipment manufacturers will join for a discussion at the organization’s virtual annual conference Oct. 5-9.

“Made in Alabama: How Alabama’s manufacturers play a major role in the global supply chain” is a panel discussion that will be on Monday, Oct. 5 at 1:45 p.m.

Alabama’s biopharma and medical device and equipment manufacturers are making headlines with growth and expansion in the wake of the pandemic. Conference viewers will hear from executive leaders who are putting Alabama on the map as an ideal destination for manufacturing facilities.

The panel discussion will include:

• Arthur Tipton, panel moderator, is a principal for Vulcan Gray, a consulting company advising startups primarily in the biotech sector. Previously, he was president and CEO of Southern Research (2013-2019). He worked in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries for 25 years, participating in the growth aspects of three startup companies, one that went public and two acquired by public companies. Tipton is an inventor on 43 issued U.S. patents and was inducted as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2013. He is a Fellow of the Controlled Release Society and the American Institute of Biological and Medical Engineers. He is a past chairman of BIO Alabama.
• John R. Daly, site manager with Evonik Birmingham, has 25 years of experience in leadership and technical expert roles in all aspects of pharmaceutical manufacturing. Evonik’s Birmingham laboratories focus on bioresorbable polymer supply for pharmaceuticals and medical devices and on injectable drug delivery services and manufacturing for other pharmaceutical companies. Earlier this year, Evonik announced the expansion of its advanced biomaterials facility in Birmingham that will support global demand for the use of its Resomer-brand polymers with implantable medical devices and parenteral drug products.
• Lawrence Ganti, president and chief business officer at SiO2 Materials Science, looks after the day-to-day operations of SiO2. He brings more than 25 years of building commercial organizations, leading billion-dollar P&Ls, creating award-winning marketing campaigns, and driving growth initiatives in the pharmaceutical, consumer products and data analytics space. Ganti has worked for Pepsi, J&J, McKinsey and Merck across five continents. He has lived in Europe, South Asia, North Asia, North America and South America. In June, SiO2 Materials Science received a $143 million contract from the U.S. government to accelerate capacity scale-up of packaging for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics.
• Roger Graben is a founding member and president of Vitruvias Therapeutics and a past member of the founding board of directors. His responsibilities include oversight and leadership of product development and management, manufacturing/supply chain, regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance and quality assurance. Vitruvias, an Auburn-based pharmaceutical company, focuses on bringing to market generic drugs. It has a proposed facility to be built in Alabama to produce critical medicines.
• Timothy Tyson is chairman and CEO of TriRx Pharmaceutical Services and chairman at Icagen-T Inc. He is on the board of Tyme Technologies Inc. Tyson recently was chairman and CEO of Aptuit. His corporate career spans over 35 years in the pharmaceutical industry. His expertise in leadership and management is internationally recognized. TriRx recently announced the acquisition of MSD Animal Health manufacturing site in France including a long-term supply agreement.

Earlier this month, BIO Alabama announced its keynote speakers for the virtual conference.

Additional speakers, organizations and sponsors can be found on the conference website. Up-to-date information on the agenda and thought-leaders presenting can be found on the conference website. Event registration will open soon.

(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)