3rd - 4th December 2024
Agenda
Accelerating Transformation of Life Science, Pharma and Biotech R&D with Automation, AI/ML & Robotics Tools
DAY 1
08:00 - 08:50
REGISTRATION
08:55 – 09:00
CHAIRPERSON’S OPENING REMARKS
09:00 - 09:30
Version Control and Lab Automation: Enhancing Scientific Reproducibility, Traceability, and Collaboration with Robust Systems
- Importance of version control systems (VCS) for enhancing efficiency, precision and reproducibility across lab workflows
- How we approached designing a robust, user-friendly VCS capable of managing complex and ever-evolving scientific processes
- Overcoming challenges in development and implementation: Handling resistance to change, technical obstacles, and data security assurance
- Future possibilities: How integrating AI and ML into VCS can further push the boundaries of lab automation
09:30 - 10:00
Cutting Edge and Adaptable: Balancing Lab Flexibility and Evolving Research Needs when Integrating Automation and Robotics
- Modular work cells or E2E lab automation: Evaluating specific suitability, ease of scalability, and aligning strategies with future needs
- Cost-effective and smarter instrument connectivity: Harnessing IoT devices within the lab for increased R&D throughput
- Where to begin with cloud orchestration: Reviewing benefits and challenges of cloud-based workflow scheduling
- Combining automated instrument data capture with LIMS to facilitate greater scientific collaboration and enhanced decision-making at pace
10:00 - 10:30
Artificial Intelligence and Personalized Medicine: Examining Potential Use-Cases and Real-World Applications for AI & ML Within Life Science Labs
- Reviewing the history, direction, and aspirations for developing a vision-based AI system
- Creating the optimal conditions AI needs for success whilst navigating infrastructure, planning and scale-up challenges
- Driving maximum results with minimal resources: Addressing issues with data quality and quantity limitations
- Keeping the promise: Demonstrating incremental progress and designing next steps for continued innovation
10:35 - 11:25
COFFEE BREAK
11:30 - 12:00
Shortening time to market with an integrated data layer that mimics bioreactors
- An integrated data layer can streamline the simulation of bioreactors by providing a centralized platform for data collection, processing, and analysis
- It enhances the accuracy of simulations by ensuring that all parameters reflect the current state of the bioreactor, leading to more reliable predictions of behaviour and performance
- By enabling real-time data sharing between different stages of development, an integrated data layer can facilitate a more cohesive and efficient design process
- This approach can significantly reduce the time and cost associated with experimental trials by allowing for virtual experiments that can be run in a fraction of the time
- An integrated data layer supports the optimization of bioreactor design by allowing for rapid iteration of simulation scenarios to find the most efficient processes
- Ultimately, this leads to a faster time to market for biopharmaceutical products as the development cycle is shortened through improved simulation and design processes
12:00 - 12:30
AI in Drug Discovery - Approaches, Current Status, and Challenges
This session centres on the transformative impact of data science and artificial intelligence in drug discovery. The focus will be on the application of machine learning, data analytics, and computational models for tasks such as identifying novel drug targets and optimizing lead compounds. Sessions will address the journey from data acquisition to actionable insights, emphasizing the development of robust algorithms and the validation of AI models.
12:30 - 13:00
Future-proof your Lab: Rethinking Traditional Approaches in Design and Collaboration
- Research spaces and laboratories are facing many challenges and undergoing fundamental transformation
- The complexity of the laboratory infrastructure requires numerous, involved disciplines and yesterday’s concepts cannot meet future requirements
- A fundamentally new approach is required to address the challenges, to foster the innovation and remain competitive
- Smart Lab Ecosystem approach combines real and digital world to manage and reduce complexity
- The talk will outline our vision what a lab of the future looks like and why we think it’s (r)evolutionary
PLANNED INVESTMENT AREAS
- Robotics Process Automation
- Data Sciences and Analytics
- Architectural Design and Lab Planning
- Asset Performance Management
- Laboratory Process Automation
- Laboratory Digital Monitoring Systems
- Transportation & Storage of Biological Materials
- Laboratory Sample & Inventory Management Solutions
- High-throughput screening/ High-content screening
- Laboratory equipment and Furniture
- Asset Finance and Leasing
- Sustainable Equipment, Materials and Decontamination Solutions
- Labware Cleaning and Sterilization
- Energy Efficiency Solutions
- Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality
- Laboratory/Hardware Automation
- Smart Lab Infrastructure
- Mobile Robots
- Cloud Computing
- Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
- Informatics
- Operational Excellence/Continuous Improvement
- Quality Assurance / Quality Control
- Laboratory Operations & Strategy
- Regulation, Compliance & Validation
- Cybersecurity
- Digital Lab Consulting
- Consulting for AI & ML adoption for Lab Automation
- Waste Management Software
- Sustainable Materials Management (SMM)
- Clean Room Solutions
- Environmental Management Solutions – Water Purification
- Design, Build, Quality & Commissioning of Critical Laboratory Facilities
13:05 - 13:55
LUNCH
14:00 - 14:30
Achieving Lab Digitization at Scale through Reusable Patterns
- Identifying reusable patterns for optimal instrument integration and data management
- Transitioning from one-off implementations through to more scalable approaches
- Managing digital capabilities as a product to align efforts, goals and stakeholder ownership
- Maximizing the value of data through effective governance and improved metadata management
- Leveraging data and communication standards as an accelerator to streamline processes and interoperability
14:30 – 15:00
Workflow Execution Interface (WEI): Streamlining Autonomous Scientific Discovery through Open-Source Robotics and Instrumentation Integration
- Progress toward fully automated laboratories through the development of an open-source, extensible and Python-centric software framework
- Enabling scientists to coordinate the diverse instruments and services required for stepwise execution of various experimental workflows using human-readable YAML formatted definitions
- Rapid integration of new instruments with minimal effort and successfully enabled autonomous experimentation in benchmark studies
15:00 – 15:30
Enhancing Laboratory Efficiency: Automating Plasmid, Protein, and Cell Processing
- Developing unique automation technologies to address the bottlenecks to a wide range of applications across plasmid purification, protein and antibody purification, western blotting and cell isolation
- Automation solutions are helping scientists optimize their workflows and achieve data consistency and reliability using innovative magnetic systems, GMP grade cell isolation system and first-in-class western blotting systems
15:35 - 16:25
COFFEE BREAK
16:30 - 17:00
Navigating the Journey to Self-Governed Quality Excellence
- Building a culture of self-governance in quality processes
- Creating a roadmap to achieve the Industry North Star
- Setting a strong foundation for AI/ML, Data Science, and futuristic technologies
17:00 – 17:30
Accelerating transformation through data analytics and insights
- Strategy for implementing an integrated system to track equipment utilization
- Changing mindsets and behaviours
- Outcomes from strategic changes
- Long term vision and next steps
PLANNED INVESTMENT AREAS
- Robotics Process Automation
- Data Sciences and Analytics
- Architectural Design and Lab Planning
- Asset Performance Management
- Laboratory Process Automation
- Laboratory Digital Monitoring Systems
- Transportation & Storage of Biological Materials
- Laboratory Sample & Inventory Management Solutions
- High-throughput screening/ High-content screening
- Laboratory equipment and Furniture
- Asset Finance and Leasing
- Sustainable Equipment, Materials and Decontamination Solutions
- Labware Cleaning and Sterilization
- Energy Efficiency Solutions
- Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality
- Laboratory/Hardware Automation
- Smart Lab Infrastructure
- Mobile Robots
- Cloud Computing
- Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
- Informatics
- Operational Excellence/Continuous Improvement
- Quality Assurance / Quality Control
- Laboratory Operations & Strategy
- Regulation, Compliance & Validation
- Cybersecurity
- Digital Lab Consulting
- Consulting for AI & ML adoption for Lab Automation
- Waste Management Software
- Sustainable Materials Management (SMM)
- Clean Room Solutions
- Environmental Management Solutions – Water Purification
- Design, Build, Quality & Commissioning of Critical Laboratory Facilities
17:30 - 18:15
Panel Discussion - Optimizing Life Science Labs, Workflows & Workforces with Disruptive Technology: Embracing the Digital Future of Scientific Discovery, Research and Development
The pursuit for digitally optimized workflows, reduced costs, accelerated timelines, and increased collaboration across life science labs is driving organizations to embrace automation, robotics, and disruptive technology at pace and scale, in a concerted effort to bring high quality, ground-breaking medicines and treatments to patients faster.
- Strategic Lab Automation: Identifying suitable technology and partners that meet our growing need for accelerated, streamlined and optimized scientific processes
- How will digital disruption reshape our evolving scientific workforces and influence our overall journey towards labs of the future?
- Delivering ROI with cost effective lab automation: How should we refine our strategies and capabilities to deliver lab innovation that’s scalable, flexible and within budget?
- Cultivating a collective and cohesive effort: How should we encourage stakeholders, industry collaborators and solutions providers to pool resources and knowledge to accelerate the transformational journey
- Next phase of scientific innovation: What do we envisage as our labs of the future, and how will emerging technology further support continued scientific innovation?
18:15 - 19:15
DRINKS RECEPTION
DAY 2
08:55 – 09:00
CHAIRPERSON’S OPENING REMARKS
09:00 – 09:30
The Power of Collaboration: Collectively Shifting the Needle of Change for Continued Lab Innovation
- Driving continued lab innovation through increased industry collaboration
- Defining what collaboration looks like and the importance of open forums, associations and academia
- Highlighting how the collective input can shift the needle of change and influence vendor communities
- Build on the appetite for sharing peer-driven knowledge and experience to accelerate lab digitalization
09:30 – 10:00
Automating Life Science Workflows: Overcoming Data Integration Challenges for Advanced Research and Progressive Scientific Innovation
- Defining why: Enhanced collaboration, accelerated scientific progress and optimized resource utilization
- Exploring the realities of liberating data from across different instruments, platforms, and sources within the lab
- Harmonizing data pipelines: Creating robust frameworks to minimize bottlenecks when handling big data
- FAIR data principles: Best-practice standards and protocols for scientific data collection, storage, and annotation
10:00 - 10:30
The Importance of Validating LIMS and Laboratory Systems
- Mapping and redesign to simplify an analytical process prior to major project implementation e.g. LIMS or a networked CDS
- Using the maps to define user requirements: defining intended use
- Does the laboratory fit the LIMS or vice versa? The configuration versus customisation debate
- How to leverage the supplier’s software development and testing to reduce in-house validation
- How to validate GAMP software category 3 computerised systems using a single integrated validation document
10:35 - 11:25
COFFEE BREAK
11:30 – 12:00
INTEGRATING AI AND ROBOTICS FOR EFFICIENT DRUG DESIGN AND DISCOVERY
- Combining generative AI, retrosynthesis and robots to discover new drugs faster
12:00 – 12:30
Digitization and Connectivity on the Path to Net - Zero
- Unlocking hidden inefficiencies and waste in the enterprise
- How digitization can speed up the path to Net-Zero
12:30 – 13:00
Flexible lab space
- Need for Flexibility in R&D environment for Life Sciences
- How to incorporate flexibility in a R&D building
- Solutions from startups to scaleups to corporates
- Presentation of the Plus Ultra Leiden building
- Smart Building technology
PLANNED INVESTMENT AREAS
- Robotics Process Automation
- Data Sciences and Analytics
- Architectural Design and Lab Planning
- Asset Performance Management
- Laboratory Process Automation
- Laboratory Digital Monitoring Systems
- Transportation & Storage of Biological Materials
- Laboratory Sample & Inventory Management Solutions
- High-throughput screening/ High-content screening
- Laboratory equipment and Furniture
- Asset Finance and Leasing
- Sustainable Equipment, Materials and Decontamination Solutions
- Labware Cleaning and Sterilization
- Energy Efficiency Solutions
- Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality
- Laboratory/Hardware Automation
- Smart Lab Infrastructure
- Mobile Robots
- Cloud Computing
- Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
- Informatics
- Operational Excellence/Continuous Improvement
- Quality Assurance / Quality Control
- Laboratory Operations & Strategy
- Regulation, Compliance & Validation
- Cybersecurity
- Digital Lab Consulting
- Consulting for AI & ML adoption for Lab Automation
- Waste Management Software
- Sustainable Materials Management (SMM)
- Clean Room Solutions
- Environmental Management Solutions – Water Purification
- Design, Build, Quality & Commissioning of Critical Laboratory Facilities
13:05 - 13:55
LUNCH
14:00 – 14:30
Utilizing Digital Microfluidics to Miniaturize and Automate Arrayed CRISPR Screening Workflows
An automated microfluidic system miniaturizes non-viral transfection, significantly reducing the number of cells required per edit while maintaining high efficiency and viability. It enables efficient delivery of various payloads (mRNA, DNA, proteins, RNP) and gene editing across different cell types and structures (including primary immune cells, iPSCs). A custom 48-plex editing cartridge and its associated workflow for automation integration have been introduced, allowing for thousands of edits daily without human intervention. This approach offers the potential for rapid, cost-effective, high-throughput discovery at the resolution of individual patients, which could lead to a reduction in drug candidate attrition and the advancement of personalized therapies.
14:30 - 15:00
Enabling Digital Transformation of Pharma Product Development through Full Transformation of End-to-End Workflows: Progress and Challenges
CMC process development is facing multiple challenges from the increasing number of projects to higher agility, cost reductions, data integrity & accelerated development timelines. Data generated during drug development is only partially leveraged to further improve our processes or use it for predictive modelling. Building on a multi-year CMC digital transformation program, we embarked on digitizing end-to-end workflows across multiple platforms & lab families. We focused on three key areas: Operating Model, Value Delivery, and Scaling. We will share progress and challenges in each of these areas.