Steven M. Klosk
The Power List 2020 – Small Molecules
President and Chief Executive Officer at Cambrex Corporation
What is the next big thing for the small molecule field?
The next big thing is actually an old thing, and that is the speed that clinical candidates can progress through the development process. More specifically the acceleration of the speed from Investigational New Drug to New Drug Application. This touches areas of process improvements such as the use of Quality by Design, as well as the use of different technological concepts. One such method is the use of continuous flow chemistry where applicable in the process, and Cambrex is working with customers to use this technology for general chemistry processing to exploit the advantages it offers. These include faster scale-up, safer and less expensive processing due to smaller equipment, a smaller footprint and less energy usage. Quality can also be improved by avoiding impurities and using in-line testing to monitor reactions closely. In the future, we envisage integrating continuous flow chemistry with continuous drug product production to speed up the total development and production of small molecules.
Thoughts on COVID-19?
I have always been very proud of the role that Cambrex plays in helping our pharmaceutical customers develop therapeutics to save lives and improve the quality of life of their patients. The pharmaceutical industry’s role in providing small molecules that are saving the lives of critically ill patients who have contracted the COVID-19 virus today and in developing a vaccine for the virus tomorrow is what makes me so proud to be a part of the pharmaceutical industry.
