Felicity Thomas is Associate Editorial Director of Pharmaceutical Technology, Pharmaceutical Technology Europe, BioPharm International.

Felicity Thomas

Pharmaceutical Technology® chats with Miguel Forte from ISCT and Kiji Therapeutics about expectations for 2025 and the future technology agenda for industry.

Industry Outlook 2025: Setting the Tone for Industry

One thing that Miguel Forte, president of International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT), board member of Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, and CEO of Kiji Therapeutics, wants to see discussed in 2025 is the overall value proposition of drug products to patients. Companies should have a clear focus on manufacturing and optimization of technology to improve cost efficiency and improve access to patients, he asserts.

Looking at the potential technology agenda for industry in 2025, Forte remarks that the use of novel technologies is a key pressure point that will set the tone for industry as we move forward. “There's probably two elements,” he says. “One is the technical element itself: How do we manage and control and flow of information of those technical elements? And that's where we're going to see more closed systems, more automated systems, and more devices that can do things on their own. But then we need to control that in terms of information. That's where AI [artificial intelligence] will be particularly relevant.”

Additionally, from a technology agenda perspective, decentralized manufacturing will be important for industry in the future, Forte adds. “For the decentralization of the manufacturing, we need two things,” he continues. “We need devices that are able to be deployed closer to the patients, and information technology that is able to control those multiple devices. Because if you do decentralized manufacturing, you continue to have a single product that needs to be consistently released and have consistently the same characteristics across those multiple devices, and that requires flow of analytical data, flow of control in process, control data, and fine tuning that will require significant IT and adaptive IT, which is where AI comes in.”

Miguel Forte, president of International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy, board member of Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, and CEO of Kiji Therapeutics

Miguel Forte is president of International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy, board member of Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, and CEO of Kiji Therapeutics—a company developing engineered cell therapies for inflammatory diseases. Miguel holds an MD and a Specialist in Infectious Diseases from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, a PhD in Immunology from the University of Birmingham, and a certificate on Health Technology Economics from the Stockholm School of Economics. Additionally, he is Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the RCP in the UK.

Videos

Women's Day poster with woman silhouette and fists inside in paper cut and copy space, 3D illustration. Girl face poster for feminism, independence, freedom, empowerment, activism for women rights | Image Credit: © AdriaVidal – stock.adobe.com

The world is celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, reviewing the current state of gender equality in workplaces and seeking out opportunities to reduce potential disparities. For the bio/pharma industry, promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects and careers and increasing support for women within the industry to progress further in their career paths are ways that gender equality can be improved, particularly at more senior corporate levels.

Below is a selection of recent coverage from 

In this video interview, Agnes Cwienczek, director of Product Management at ArisGlobal, chats about how women can be supported in the pharmaceutical industry and other STEM fields. “While more and more pharma companies have established dedicated STEM programs and are fostering related career paths, men continue to outnumber women in this field across the globe, particularly at the higher levels,” she says.

https://www.pharmtech.com/view/international-day-of-women-and-girls-in-science-fostering-stem-careers-for-women

This article explores why investing in STEM programs for girls in an education setting and then supporting women as they excel in their professional careers is key to ensuring that vital highly skilled personnel are not left behind.

https://www.pharmtech.com/view/leaving-stem-skills-on-the-table

 sat down with Sabine Gölden, eLearning & Training Lead at MAIN5, a European consulting firm, about her experience working in the pharmaceutical industry and her perspective on gender equality in STEM fields. “Gender should never be the basis for deciding which field of study is right for you, regardless of any evolutionary advantages or disadvantages. Ultimately, someone’s path should be determined by their unique talents, passion, dedication, and interests—not by their gender,” she notes.

https://www.pharmtech.com/view/international-day-of-women-and-girls-in-science-2025-inspiring-and-supporting-women-in-stem

Women bring a unique perspective to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the pharmaceutical industry. In this article, the various benefits and opportunities that can be gained from women being involved at all levels of development and use of technological advances are detailed.

https://www.pharmtech.com/view/women-stem-and-ai-in-pharma

Jean Redmond, chief operating officer at Biologit, discusses the importance of diversity in research, the unique role women play in the field of AI, and what can be done to enrich programs to encourage girls to pursue jobs in STEM, in this video interview. “Women in STEM need to be intimately involved in the development and deployment of AI to ensure it is built ethically and representatively and in a fit-for-purpose way for problems that affect women,” she remarks.

https://www.pharmtech.com/view/international-day-of-women-and-girls-in-science-research-diversity-and-ai

In this video interview, Michelle Bridenbaker, COO of Unbiased Science, provides her perspective on how women can be empowered to excel in these crucial roles, as women provide unique and important perspectives. “The pharma industry should absolutely be investing in and promoting STEM career paths for girls. It’s incumbent on them to do so. It’s about investing in a sustainable talent base, and about doing the right thing by half of the population,” she asserts.

https://www.pharmtech.com/view/international-day-of-women-and-girls-in-science-support-and-empowerment

Articles

Supporting the prosperity of women in science fields benefits the bio/pharmaceutical industry.

International Women’s Day 2025: Celebrating Women in Science

Woman face silhouette in profile with group of multicultural and multiethnic women faces inside.Concept of racial equality anti-racism and a woman who gives voice to other women. Allyship | Image Credit: © melita – stock.adobe.com

International Women’s Day is recognized annually on March 8, providing an opportunity for all to reflect on gender diversity and seek out ways to address disparity and inequalities. For the pharmaceutical industry, the gender gap has reduced over the years, with a healthier proportion of female representation in the workforce (1)—albeit in less senior positions than their male counterparts.

In fact, according to the Deloitte Global Boardroom Program’s 

Women in the Boardroom: A Global Perspective 

report, less than a quarter of board seats worldwide are held by women (2). Narrowing down to the pharma industry and the research has found that women hold approximately 29% of executive positions and are represented in approximately 28% of corporate boards, rising slowly and steadily over the past 10 years (3).

However, better diversity and gender equality in senior, leadership positions have been shown to improve profitability and return on equity for companies through greater innovation and more creative solutions being found for problems (4). To get some insights into the ways that women can help to improve innovation within the pharma industry, 

reached out to some of the women on our Editorial Advisory Boards.

Q. How can women help improve innovation within the pharma industry?

Evonne Brennan, Consultant at Evonne Brennan Consulting:

 Women continue to empower teams in driving innovation through their own belief and/or through the strength of support through their peers. Their combination of power in bringing teams together, logical reasoning, strong driving force, and recognition of diversity generates a solid advantage on the journey to success.

Emily Heffernan, US Director New Process Technology, Arcadis U.S., Inc.:

 Women are essential to innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, bringing unique and diverse perspectives that drive scientific breakthroughs. In recent years, female scientists have been recognized with Nobel Prizes for pioneering advancements, such as CRISPR [clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats] gene-editing and mRNA [messenger RNA] vaccine technology. Looking to the future, women in leadership roles can both mentor and inspire the next generation of women innovators and entrepreneurs, fostering a continuous cycle of progress and discovery.

Christa Myers, Senior Fellow–Aseptic & Sterile Products, CRB:

 The great innovators in the industry have been devoted to excellence above all. It takes effort and intention to dig past what the everyday offers.That is where innovation lies.Innovation happens when you push a solution to consider new methods, new ideas, or reuse old ideas in a new way.Women and men have to dedicate their thoughts to look for better instead of status quo in everything we do.In the pharmaceutical market—it is still true that there is a C in CGMP [current good manufacturing practice] that requires us to be ever improving, ever thoughtful, and ever reaching for higher quality, safety, and value for the patient. Innovation does not happen without intention. It takes study, curiosity, research to fuel that intention. Be ever vigilant in your daily planning to set aside time to look through different types of technology offered in ‘other’ parts of the industry to see what crossover technologies may be useful to the solution you are working on.Attend technical conferences and ask questions of component and equipment manufacturers about where they are seeing new uses for their technologies.Write down the technology and spend time later comparing the approach to different parts of the industry to tickle out where ‘else’ this technology might fit in.Stay engaged.Join membership groups and communities of practice and other thought leading groups to stay abreast of changes.Keep growing, keep chasing innovation, and keep jumping out of the status quo—it is easy to be innovative once—it is more difficult to continue to drive to innovate again and again.

Sue Schniepp, Distinguished Fellow, Regulatory Compliance Associates: 

Women have great compassion and insight which helps them relate to the patient experience. By staying in tune with their feelings, they can continue to make sure the industry continues to produce safe and effective medicines for patients.

1. Sterrett, L. Can Women Break Glass Ceilings in Healthcare/Life Sciences? Health Forward Blog. Deloitte, April 6, 2023.
2. Deloitte. Women in the Boardroom, Eight Edition. 

, March 6, 2024.
3. East Street Pharmacy. The Growing Role of Women in Pharmaceutical Leadership. 

(accessed March 6, 2025).
4. One Nucleus. Women in Pharma—Are We There Yet? 

Gender diversity and equality in leadership positions have been shown to improve profitability and return on equity through greater innovation and more creative solutions. 

International Women’s Day 2025: Improving Innovation in Industry

In an interview with Pharmaceutical Technology®, Sheryl Johnson from Orbia Fluor & Energy Materials chats about gender diversity, how women are helping to advance innovation, sustainability challenges, and progress in the field of inhaled drugs.

International Women’s Day 2025: A Promising Future for Gender Diversity in Pharma

While the pharmaceutical industry has made strides towards diversity, equity, and inclusion, there is still room for improvement, asserts Sheryl Johnson, pharma application development manager at Orbia Fluor & Energy Materials. Many companies, such as Orbia, are taking proactive approaches to help improve gender diverse representations within their workforces. Ongoing commitment from all areas across the industry is required to achieve full diversity, she explains.

“Women in particular, can bring unique perspectives, talents, [and] approaches that can drive innovation, particularly in the pharma industry,” Johnson adds. “For instance, female leaders can often excel in collaborative and inclusive leadership styles, which I feel can help foster creativity and new ideas. I find women are very open to sharing of new ideas and provide supportive attitude to research management and development through considered and empathetic communication.”

Looking at sustainability challenges in particular and drawing on her experiences within the inhaled drug space, Johnson points to the groundbreaking research and leadership being performed by women helping to drive greater sustainable practices, “people like Sara Panigone from Chiesi, who's leading initiatives in developing carbon minimum inhalers and has been prominent voice in sustainability and in within the industry, and Maureen Hardwick from the International Pharmaceutical Aerosol Consortium, [who’s] been a key figure in advancing environmental policies and sustainable efforts,” she says.

“I think the future of gender diversity in the pharma industry looks promising with more women taking on leadership roles and contributing to decision making processes,” Johnson summarizes. “I think the shift will likely lead to a more inclusive, innovative approach to healthcare for inhalers and inhaled drugs, we can probably expect continued advancements in technology, in formulation and making treatments more effective, more environmentally friendly, and I think the industry is poised to make significant strides in both areas benefitting both patients and the world alike.”

Sheryl Johnson, Pharma Application Development Manager at Orbia Fluor & Energy Materials

Sheryl Johnson is Pharma Application Development Manager at Orbia Fluor & Energy Materials. Sheryl is a highly respected authority in the pharmaceutical aerosol industry with almost two decades' worth of experience in medical chemical development and research. She is on the board at the International Pharmaceutical Aerosol Consortium on Regulation & Science(IPAC RS), frequently contributed to the publishing of papers through working groups, and actively participates at industry organised conference events such as Respiratory Drug Delivery. After earning her Master's in Organic Chemistry from the University of Hull, she worked as a senior development chemist at Contract Chemicals, where she discovered her love for laboratory work. Her subsequent role at Orbia provided experience in process development, hazardous materials handling and formulation chemistry. Now, with over 13 years at Orbia Fluor & Energy Materials, she serves as Pharma Application Development Manager, overseeing the safe production and development of Zephex 152a MDIs.


Industry Outlook 2025: Looking at the Investment Environment

When reflecting on trends that shaped the bio/pharma industry in 2024, Miguel Forte, president of International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT), board member of Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, and CEO of Kiji Therapeutics, explains that the investment environment has been his primary thought. “Investment is the oil that gets everything moving and enables us to do the process development, the work, and the product development in the end,” he says.

While investment has been tough over recent years, Forte asserts that there was a slight pick-up in activity during 2024, albeit at a slow pace. “We also saw people looking into different opportunities,” he continues, “[which] in a way is telling us that companies are finding different ways of funding so that they can continue their activities.”

Moving into 2025, Forte anticipates that industry will witness two kinds of M&A: one being activity between similar-sized companies that will combine for synergistic reasons and to optimize costs, and the other being straight acquisitions that will take a technology into Big Pharma and accelerate the development of a therapy to the patient-level. “We're going to obviously be impacted by these bigger acquisitions, because it's bigger value, and we see the value of Big Pharma really taking these products to patients,” he adds. “But in the background, there's going to be a series of smaller deals that will have that synergizing ability, bringing two companies of similar size together with broader geographic scope, broader equity story proposition, and that's what we're going to see.”

In an interview with Pharmaceutical Technology®, Miguel Forte from ISCT and Kiji Therapeutics provides his insights into the M&A landscape from 2024 and his expectations of what is to come next.

In an interview with Pharmaceutical Technology®, Mike Baird from Schlafender Hase gives his predictions for how AI and ML may find use in the industry moving forwards and provides some predictions about M&A and the changing US government administration.

Industry Outlook 2025: Consolidating Data and Relaxing Regulations on AI

As the technology agenda progresses for industry, Mike Baird, director of product management for Schlafender Hase, a German software company, expects the primary impact of advanced tools to happen in the compliance space. “AI [artificial intelligence] is a very generic term,” he emphasizes. “But machine learning and large language models in particular are going to be at the forefront of this [trend], because that's where all the data can be consolidated.”

However, the transition to automated and digital-led processes will not happen overnight, Baird asserts. “[These tools] are like babies, and we have to teach them how to do things,” he says. “And so, once the teaching is in place, and once we get the models trained, then they can really help in this area of compliance and adhering to regulations.

Looking at the potential M&A activity for industry over the coming 12 months, Baird anticipates that if interest rates continue to go down, then we should be looking at a more favorable landscape in the near future. However, the change in government administration in the United States also leads to a little bit of uncertainty, he adds.

The new administration may lead to some challenges, particularly around drug pricing, Baird speculates. “[But], going back to the technology side of things, one thing that I'm not certain of, but I think might be a good prediction, is that there'll be a relaxation in the regulations surrounding AI,” he notes. “I think this administration is a big supporter of technology, which is great, but also a big supporter of AI, and where that can take us, and what that can do for the for the industry.”

Mike Baird, Director of Product Management for Schlafender Hase

Mike Baird is Director of Product Management for Schlafender Hase—a German software company. Mike’s role is to develop software to meet and exceed the needs of customers. He has more than 25 years of experience working with global packaging, labelling, pre-media, and artwork management leaders in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors.